Knowledge Shared

Artist

Barbara Baer

Year

2009

Location

2733 Council Tree Ave

Description

Artist Barbara Baer has created an intriguing welcome for patrons of the Council Tree Library. As patrons enter the lobby, they are met with swirling symbols from the walls, floor, ceiling, and mid-air. With the goal of communicating with people of diverse ages and backgrounds, symbols of the Roman alphabet, as well as Mandarin, Hebrew, Greek, Cyrillic, and mathematics are used in unexpected ways. Familiar letters become puzzles, seen no longer as 2D print shapes but in reverse, from odd angles, even expressed in 3D.

The most dramatic element of the lobby installation are ribbons of rolled steel formed into a double logarithmic spiral and suspended from the ceiling. These long pieces are patterned after spiral nebulae, which tilt and expand into space as a metaphor for expanding knowledge.

From bike racks outside, to indoor seating, and floating, swirling symbols, the black letters and symbols boldly stand out like words on a page.

Photos