The Arts Quad is now down another art piece. After the construction of several modern art structures on campus last semester, only one remains.
The art, constructed as part of Cornell’s Fifth Biennial celebration, sought to represent the interests of various faculty. Most conspicuous among these art pieces was “At what point does the world unfold?”, a series of large pink tapestries in front of Lincoln Hall. The installation, which sought to oppose “the visual orientation [of Goldwin Smith Hall],” which “signals empire, whiteness, maleness” was the first to go.
The installation erected last, and now the only one left standing, is “Unframe,” a 25 foot tower constructed of wood from fallen ash trees. The monolith seeks to understand the “industrialized practice of wood framing [which] emerged from a long and colonial American tradition of rapid wood construction.” The project was authored by an assistant Architecture professor Leslie Lok.
Finally, the original piece, and now the item undergoing deconstruction, is “Circulating Matters.” The stack of wooden planks in front of Ezra Cornell’s statue hails from 206 College Avenue, a house that was dismantled to make way for the new Catherine Commons complex. The art serves as a proof-of-concept of “circular construction,” which “directly reuses materials” from disassembled buildings for new buildings– a sort of large-scale recycling program.
The structure, somewhat affectionately known on these pages as “the gallows” due to its resemblance to a medieval execution platform, was constructed in August of last year. Since then, when the weather is favorable, students have climbed to the top of the stair-like structure for pictures, sat on it to study, and—far more often—passed by with quizzical expressions.
The disassembly of “Circulating Matters” began on Thursday, with a team of two. The workers began taking it apart with drills, dismantling the sculpture piece-by-piece. The remnants of the “gallows” were stacked neatly beside the now-empty space.
The end of the structure raises questions about the future of “Unframe,” the last remaining project of the biennial celebration. The biennial celebration, which advertises itself as “a semester-long compilation of attractions and performances” has variously lasted significantly longer than a semester. Some pieces, such as Waste Not (a circle of toilets near Olive Tjaden Hall) only lasted a month while “Circulating Matters” has loomed over the Arts Quad since August 2022.
The future of “Circulating Matters” is likewise unclear. The project would be well-served if the materials were recycled as the concept intends: the wood panels incorporated into a new Ithaca-area building project.
