A-Spire

Alexander Tylevich (born 1947, Minsk, Belarus)

A-Spire, 2011

Stainless steel, dichroic glass, LED lights

80 ft. h X 20 ft. w

Location: Inside the Science Teaching and Student Services Building, east bank campus

Two cones reach toward each other. The upper cone is composed of 16 stainless steel cables (the same as the number of skylight mullions above the sculpture.) This cone of cables supports a spiral made of vivid dichroic glass. The spiral unravels above the third floor, untangling into codependent strips of glass that follow the curves of the stairway and atrium floor openings. The spiral revolves in the direction opposite to that of the main stairway.

The lower cone develops from ground level. A web of cables holds a stainless steel spiral positioned in front of an array of letters, numerals and scientific symbols representing the fundamentals of science. The spiral itself, minimalistic in approach, contains images related to the subjects taught in the building. These images are embedded into the recessed half-spheres of the polished stainless steel. The base is made of blue stainless steel, with 800 programmable color-changing LED lights. Beneath the base, embedded letters and numerals spill onto the visible portion of the floor from the cone structure above.