Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A committee was formed that included OSF employees and area artist communities to select a visual landscape using the arts to reflect the state’s unique history, spirit and diversity. Three finalist were chosen to present their individual concepts to the committee and input was received from OSF employees. The artist selected was Thomas H. Sayre and here is his concept.
Depending upon from what direction one encounters OSF, this project begins and ends on the two corners of the site which face North Lincoln Boulevard. Both corners are prominent. On the south corner there are three large earthcastdiscs, parallel in placement presenting from some angles large, massive textured surfaces and from others narrow, vertical forms, almost lines. As cars (and pedestrians) move north and south along Lincoln Boulevard, the composition of the three elements will change dramatically from a series of massive walls to delicate "lines" with lots of air in between.
The three disks have been placed on a composition of parallel berms to create interest on the ground plane and add the imagery of an agricultural field. The berms also connect to the protective berms surrounding the building and extend their meaning beyond the functional. Roughly reminiscent of a disc harrow and other agricultural elements and counterpoint to the rectilinear architecture beyond, the disc forms are man-made objects affecting the land on which they sit. Cast in the earth itself, however, the discs are made fromthe earth and thereby speak of the relationship between human intention and the grain of the earth –the same relationship so palpably apparent in many photographs taken throughout the hundred years of the history of Oklahoma.
On the northeast corner of the site sits a single disc of identical scale, but one made of "weaving" of shiny stainless steel rod creating an intricate form and surface. Counterpoint to the rough, craggy, and shadowed surfaces of the earthcastings, the stainless disc will reflect light, sparkle and appear almost weightless as it rides the berms beneath it. It will speak to a new kind of implement, a new relationship to the land; it will reflect the colors and atmosphere around it and will speak to Father Sky as counterpoint to the earthcastings which speak to Mother Earth. The stainless disc is about craft, ingenuity and technology.
Together the two corners express something about the state as a whole; its history, its ongoing and changing relationship with the land, the fact that the State is clearly evolving –just like the Office of State Finance is evolving in order to better serve the State.
For more information, visit http://ok.gov/cio/documents/DataCenterArtworkExplanation_osf.pdf