portfolio
software is to poetry as architecture is to sculpture

Messiah, 1987/1990
We knew we wanted to use colorized CAT scans of an anonymous AIDS patient . . . When we received the CAT scans, we discovered that the patient was named Messiah. At that moment, we knew that the sculpture had to be in the shape of a crucifix. We decided to focus on hope, chance, and death as the sub-themes of the work. The face of death is cast in glass, the hand of hope is a piece of found folk art found from Wisconsin. The dice are animated, and the AIDS virus is a scientific visualization model based on information available in 1989.

 

Credits:
Ellen Sandor, Jim Zanzi, Randy Johnson & Stephan Meyers, (art)n Laboratory
Dan Sandin and Tom DeFanti, Electronic Visualization Lab, School of Art and Design, University of Illinois at Chicago
Special thanks to Dr. Roberta Glick and Kevin Maginnis

Media: PHSCologram rendering output to Cibachrome film, mounted on plexiglas
60"x96" sculpture

Software: Proprietary

Quotes:
High technology and social awareness meld successfully in (art)n's beautiful but awesome stealth negative constructions. Vibrant purples and blues radiate from their cross-shaped sculpture titled "Messiah". Hands, faces, and symbols take on the three-dimensional depth found in laser imagery. The unusual presence of this piece is seductive. However, the power-packed punch of this work strikes once the viewer learns that the abstract shapes are micro-images of the actual AIDS virus. The same impact is produced by "Papilloma Virus, 3rd Edition". (art)n's pieces represent some of the most successful and inventive uses of this advanced technology.

Elaine A. King, Ph.D.,
Director, Carnegie Mellon Art Gallery & Associate Professor, History of Art 1990

 

Exhibitions:

  • Grey Art Gallery and Study Center, New York University, New York, NY
  • Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA
  • Fine Art Gallery, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
  • McKissick Museum, The University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
  • Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, FL
  • Musée d'Art Contemporian de Montréal
  • Sharadin Art Gallery, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA
  • Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle, WA
  • Emerson Gallery, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
  • Computer Museum, Boston, MA
  • Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL
  • Carnegie-Mellon Art Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Fullerton Museum Center
  • SIGGRAPH 1988 Art Show, Atlanta
  • Columbia College Art Gallery, Chicago, IL
  • Fermilab, Batavia, IL

Literature:

  • Smith, Roberta, "Response to AIDS Gains in Subtlety" (review), The New York Times, February 18, 1994, C28
  • From Media to Metaphor: Art Abut AIDS catalogue
  • Henderson, Harold, "Art or Science?" (article), Chicago Reader, August 16, 1991, pp. 1-21
  • Beyond 2000, international syndication, Sydney, Australia, Summer 1991 (video)
  • New Generations: Chicago catalogue
  • Science in Depth catalogue, Computer Musuem & Museum of Science and Industry
  • CNN, Cable Network News, "Science and Technology" international syndication, 1990 (video)
  • Wild Chicago, local syndication 1990 (video)
  • Foerstner, Abigail, "Photography: 3-D images cross the boundary between art and science" (article), The Chicago Tribune, August 10, 1990, pp. 65-66
  • Homisak, Bill, "King's Chicago: our kind of town" (review) Tribune, March 4, 1990
  • Prince, Patric, "1988 SIGGRAPH Art Show, a Review" (article), IEEE Computer Graphics and applications, September 1988, pp. 15-24
  • ACM SIGGRAPH '88 Art Show, Atlanta, GA, 1988 (catalogue)