Alyson Shotz: 2019 Permanent Lobby Commission
In March 2019, we were delighted to unveil All Equations Are Wave Equations, the long-anticipated installation in the museum lobby by Brooklyn artist Alyson Shotz.
The sculpture, inspired by and created specifically for the Hunter’s 2005 building, takes advantage of the spaces immense natural light, soaring ceiling, and contemporary aesthetic. The appearance of the sculpture shifts constantly in relation to the position of the sun and the changing seasons.
Alyson Shotz is interested in physics and uses her work to explore the intersection of science and art. Her title for the piece references the fact that light is formed in waves, and waves are at the heart of physics. The undulating forms of the sculpture are also reminiscent of the waves of the Tennessee River, visible from the lobby. The original inspiration for this sculpture was a piece of paper floating through space. Here is what the artist said about it: “To create this sculpture based on a sheet of paper, I made a 3D model of the paper, let it fall through virtual space, and used stop-motion animation to grab these two shapes. I expanded the linear model of the paper (the lines that make up the model) into something that has dimension and can be built. In a sense, I’m taking a linear drawing and directly making that into a sculpture, which again alludes to the paper and the act of drawing itself.”
“The Acquisitions Committee was enamored with the alluring quality of Alyson’s work and felt the dynamic nature of her proposal would be the perfect complement to the grandeur of the lobby: beautiful, welcoming, always changing,” said Executive Director Virginia Anne Sharber.
The sculpture took three years from conception to completion and weighs approximately 2,500 pounds. The work arrived in Chattanooga on February 11, 2019 in eleven different sections on two separate 18-wheel trucks. It took a team of four installers from Chicago, Alyson and her assistant, the fabricator, and our entire curatorial staff two full weeks to assemble the 470 aluminum piece skeleton, affix the 4,565 plexiglass pieces, and then raise the two sculptures in place.
Make plans for a museum visit today to view the spectacular work.
ABOVE IMAGE: Alyson Shotz [b. 1964] All Equations Are Wave Equations, 2018-2019, welded aluminum and acrylic with laminated dichroic film on all sides, Museum commission, 2019.5
