Public art doesn’t always have to command attention from across a plaza. Sometimes it works a little differently, rewarding the person who happens to look up, glance along a bookshelf, or notice something they weren’t expecting.
That sense of discovery is at the heart of The Unexpected, a 16-piece aluminum installation by artist Sara Lovas, created for the Golden Triangle Library in Fort Worth, Texas.
Rather than designing a single monumental sculpture, Sara envisioned a collection of individual sculptural elements placed throughout the library. The pieces appear both inside and outside the building, tucked among bookshelves, positioned along ceiling beams, and incorporated into unexpected locations throughout the space.
We loved the idea from the beginning.
Our job at ART Research was to help Sara take that vision from the studio into aluminum, working through the fabrication of 16 individual pieces while keeping the character and details of her artwork intact. With a project made up of multiple elements, each piece has to work on its own, but also feel like part of the larger installation.
That is one of the things we enjoy most about working with artists. Every project asks something different of the shop. Sometimes we’re producing a 20-foot monumental sculpture. Other times, as with The Unexpected, the challenge is creating a series of smaller works that will be experienced one discovery at a time.
The finished installation gives visitors plenty to find. You might notice one piece immediately, then discover another on a return visit. The artwork becomes part of the experience of moving through the library rather than something encountered from a single viewpoint.
For us, seeing all 16 pieces installed at the Golden Triangle Library is the best part of the process. After the fabrication, finishing, packing and all the work that happens here in the shop, there is something pretty special about seeing an artist’s idea finally living in the place it was designed for.
It was a pleasure collaborating with Sara Lovas on The Unexpected and helping bring this wonderfully playful public art project to life in Fort Worth.
