A Touch of Glass
One of Dale Chihuly’s newest artworks, DNA Tower, honors
the past and embodies the future of research at the IU School of
Medicine.
The twisting cluster of colored spheres doesn’t merely catch
the eye of visitors to the Morris Mills Atrium of the VanNuys Medical
Science Building, it stops them in their tracks.
Art and science are fused in the Indiana University School of Medicine
DNA Tower, one of the latest creations of glass artist extraordinaire
Dale Chihuly. The captivating sculpture was commissioned for the
School through an anonymous donor and unveiled to the public Sept.
30.
The piece depicts the double helix molecule, the genesis of life.
It commemorates the 50th anniversary of the discovery of DNA structure
by James Watson – a 1950 alumnus who earned his doctorate
in zoology at IU Bloomington – and Francis Crick. And it’s
no coincidence the work of art was dedicated as the School began
its centennial celebration, and as its scientists are advancing
genetic research through the Indiana Genomics Initiative and other
life sciences research.
“To define the twists of the helix and four bases of the
molecule,
I used several different colored glass-shaped forms to help express
the overall shape and design of the DNA Tower,” says the Tacoma-based
Chihuly. “The installation is really unlike anything I’ve
ever created before and I’m proud it will be on permanent
view at the Indiana University School of Medicine.”
The nineteen-foot structure has 1,200 glass globes and weighs 3,000
pounds. Each blown-glass globe has a different texture and weighs
one to two pounds. Chihuly selected mauves, greens and blues to
symbolize the molecular bases and yellow to represent the double
helix to which they are attached.
The sculpture was shipped dissembled to the School about a week
before its dedication. When removed from their crates, the globes
were carefully sorted and organized by installation experts and
volunteers. Metal wire was used to attach each globe to the armature.
A five-foot-tall circular cherry wood base surrounds the base support
of the sculpture.
“Truly stunning,” says Jeffrey Rothenberg, MD, assistant
professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology, stepping close
to inspect one of the cobalt-blue globes at the Tower’s base.
“Look at the detail in this.” Rothenberg perhaps has
a finer perspective than most of the Chihuly work. When he’s
not seeing patients, he spends much of his time creating blown-glass
art.
Even without Chihuly’s artistic license, DNA’s simple
double-helix structure is stunning, says Ora H. Pescovitz, MD, executive
associate dean for research. “People come to work early in
the morning at the Medical Sciences Building and they leave very
late. They come in on weekends.
One of the things art can do is create a calming influence.”
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