The piece, constructed from bronze forms resembling tree limbs and 18-foot-tall glass panels propped up against each other, was erected just outside of the Princeton University Art Museum.
By Alexandra Markovich
| For New Jersey Advance Media
Princeton University's latest addition to its public art collection comes from leading contemporary artists Doug Starn and Mike Starn. The brothers spoke at Princeton University on Saturday to mark the unveiling of their sculpture.
The piece, constructed from bronze forms resembling tree limbs and 18-foot-tall glass panels propped up against each other, was erected just outside of the Princeton University Art Museum.
The sculpture is a meditation on both the act of thinking and of not thinking, Doug Starn said. This theme of the development of thought fit well with the location.
"We were excited to create a work for Princeton University as a center of research," Mike Starn said.
Princeton joins elite ranks by exhibiting the Starn brothers' work. The brothers' monumental bamboo sculpture "You Can't, You Don't and You Won't Stop" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art was the ninth most-visited exhibition in the museum's history. In 2008, the brothers were commissioned to design the stage for a visit by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Most recently, the Starn brothers were commissioned to create a piece for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.
MORE: Princeton University Art Museum on best small-town museums list
The sculpture, titled "(Any) Body Oddly Propped," is only the artists' second glass work since their 2009 installation in the New York City subway, and they say it will not be the last. "We expect to do more pieces like it," Doug Starn said.
Though the initial thought had been to create a piece out of bamboo for Princeton's campus grounds, it quickly became apparent that an environment with 7,000 students did not mesh well with climbable bamboo, James Steward, director of the Princeton University Art Museum, said while fielding questions at the end of the talk.
On their first visit, the brothers became inspired by the blank slate of space in front of the art museum on their own, Steward explained.
"What appealed to them about this location was the surrounding campus," said Lisa Arcomano, manager of Campus Collections. The brothers were aware of the gothic feel of the Murray Dodge building across from the museum and were excited by the stained glass windows of the Chapel, Arcomano said.
ALSO: Painting on paper event held at Princeton University Art Museum
Though the location was the inspiration for the piece, it was also its greatest challenge, according to Arcomano.
"The biggest challenge is that it is above a library. Because we didn't want to penetrate the roof of the library, the engineering had to be working within the constraints of the space," Arcomano said, adding that the both the university and the brothers worked with many engineers to make the structure possible.
"The obvious engineering feat is essentially invisible," Steward said, fielding questions.
The original plan was to create freestanding glass panels, Doug Starn said. "It felt very dead, and we weren't happy with it," he said. To create the design for the structure, the brothers leaned pictures against one another, Mike Starn said, recalling the memory the brothers had of propping up cards as kids.
The actual structure, in which the panels all lean up against each other, speaks to themes of interdependence and interconnectedness that have been important to the brothers throughout their career, Doug Starn said.
"All the thoughts about interdependence and impermanence connect us to Buddhism," Mike Starn said. Though the bamboo series threw a spotlight on the Starn brothers, this philosophy has been consistent in all their works, regardless of the material.
"This is the same work we've been doing for thirty years, but the paper became bamboo and the duct tape became rope," Mike Starn said. "The work has nothing to do with bamboo. It has everything to do with interdependence," Doug Starn said of the series, "Big Bambu."
Mike Starn explained that the works are created through philosophical engineering. "We call this chaotic interdependence. It's the real architecture of life," Doug Starn said. Like "Big Bambu" and the works that came before, the structure of "(Any) Body Oddly Propped," reflects the ideology behind it.
"Impermanence is a theme that has pervaded much of our work. Art changes its meaning as time progresses. Artworks change the minute they leave the studio," Doug Starn said. "It gets back to the theme of all of our work: that art is alive, not static," Doug Starn said in an interview after the talk, adding that the work remains "in expectation."
The Starn brothers' sculpture, weighing nearly 8 tons, stands on fertile artistic ground. The lawn of the Princeton University Art Museum was previously home to Pablo Picasso's "Head of a Woman," executed by the Norwegian artist Carl Nesjar. The sculpture was relocated in 2002 when Marquand Library expanded underground.
Recalling the work of the artist that stood in the space before it, the Starn brothers cite Picasso's late sculptures, in which he propped flat images against one another, as inspiration for "(Any) Body Oddly Propped."