Dialogue

Barbara Grygutis (born 1946, Hartford, Connecticut)

Dialogue, 2020

Aluminum, LED lamps

18 ft. h X 2 ½ ft. w and 14 ft. h X 2 ft. w

Location: Outside the Health Sciences Education Center, east bank campus

DIALOGUE, is the title of the work of art created for the University of Minnesota Health Sciences Education Center. The work of art is designed to emphasize and highlight an important human interaction feature necessary for public health – the ability to listen – and the ability to dialogue.
Dialogue is the art of discussion, conversation, interchange and discourse. To dialogue is to take part in a conversation to resolve a problem. To dialogue is to transcends our differences to find common ground. The work of art is a composition with two monumental sculptures and the space in between. The shape of each sculpture is a silhouette of the human head. These silhouettes are generic, absent of gender and race. The silhouettes are simply human. The two sculptural elements are realized in diverse and divergent styles. One sculpture is transparent, while the other sculpture less transparent, but more complex in its form. This is purposeful and central to the theme of the work.

The two sculptures symbolize our differences and similarities. The two sculptural silhouettes face each other to convey engagement and dialogue. The space between the sculptures is the field of energy created whenever we are involved in the transference of ideas, from one human being to another. The space between the two sculptures is an integral part of the work. This space conveys the magical place we all visit when we are engaged in dialogue.

The passageways through the sculptures, shaped as a keyhole and a flame, evoke passion and logic. These two very human emotions are endemic to the complexities of the human condition.

DIALOGUE is a work of art designed to embrace our shared humanity, using the human silhouette to portray our uniqueness, our differences and our commonality as humans. The work is designed to create a strong recognizable visual image for the Health Sciences Education Complex.