|
It's
A Bear!
Supporters
Christen 370,000-Pound
Sculpture
By Doug Ramsey I June 6, 2005
With
a loud thwack, artist
Tim Hawkinson cracked
a bottle of Chandon champagne
on one of the boulders
that make up his 370,000-pound
sculpture called "Bear."
The May 27 christening
of the latest addition
to the Stuart Collection
was part of a topping-off
ceremony, after engineers
and a construction crew
maneuvered a huge rock
head on top of the 20-foot-tall
teddy bear in the new
engineering courtyard.
At
Hawkinson's side for the
christening were the Jacobs
School of Engineering's
namesakes, Joan and Irwin
Jacobs, Frieder Seible,
dean of the Jacobs School,
Mary Livingstone Beebe,
director of the Stuart
Collection, and Mathieu
Gregoire, Stuart Collection
project manager. "Bear"
is the 16th public, outdoor
art work commissioned
by the Collection for
the 1,200-acre campus.
"This
is the newest addition
to the Stuart Collection,
and it's appropriate that
it's in this space," said
Joan Jacobs, co-chair
of the Friends of the
Stuart Collection Council.
"It's a site-specific
work, as all of the Stuart
Collection pieces are,
and it's the largest piece
of the collection in mass."
Erecting
the sculpture's eight,
uncarved granite boulders
- selected from a quarry
in Temecula - was a time-consuming
engineering feat in itself.
Structural engineering
students tested the design
to make sure that the
final structure would
be earthquake-proof, and
Seible (who is also the
founding director of the
Charles Lee Powell Structural
Research Laboratories
at UCSD) did the final
independent engineering
check. "I think the bear
is a beautiful contrast
to our buildings and fits
in perfectly," said Seible,
beaming. "You can see
the reflection of the
bear in the windows of
the buildings. It's absolutely
marvelous."
The
boulders were weighed
before their final positioning,
and the artwork turned
out to be more than 20
percent heavier than expected.
"When I heard about the
concept, it sounded very
exciting, but it wasn't
quite clear how it would
work out concerning the
scale," noted Irwin Jacobs.
"But this is perfect."
 |
Stuart Collection's Mary Beebe
with Chancellor Marye Anne Fox. |
|
"Bear"
is Hawkinson's first permanent
outdoor public project,
and the two-story teddy
bear will be visible from
the three buildings surrounding
the new engineering courtyard,
now under construction:
Powell-Focht Bioengineering
Hall (which opened in
2002); the Computer Science
and Engineering Building;
and the six-story headquarters
of the California Institute
for Telecommunications
and Information Technology
(Calit2) and its UCSD
Division.The latter two
buildings will be dedicated
this fall, when "Bear"
will also get a formal
unveiling as part of a
public dedication.
Hawkinson
is one of America's most
inventive artists, and
art connoisseurs Irwin
and Joan Jacobs were impressed
with his creation. "It's
a much more rounded and
softer feel, so it will
complement the buildings
rather nicely," said Irwin
Jacobs, founder and chairman
of QUALCOMM Inc. "I think
it's worked out well,
and as you get some space
to sit down around it,
it will become a great
social gathering spot."
Joan Jacobs concurred,
and predicted the artwork
will resonate with students:
"I think it will be adopted
by students as a new mascot."
|
