All That is Solid Melts into Air

Lillis Business Complex, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
2013
Acrylic cast resin, origami-folded dollar bills, coins
80" x 80" x 4" (each of two grids of 4" cubes)
Commissioned by the Oregon Arts Commission and the University of Oregon

Made for the university's historic business school, All That Is Solid Melts into Air is a pair of grids installed on the focal walls of two multistory lightwell stairwells. Each grid holds 100 hand-cast acrylic resin cubes, and each cube contains exactly one dollar: either a stack of coins or a single bill folded by hand into an animal (a fish, an elephant, an eagle) or an everyday object such as a shirt and tie.

The clear cubes catch and hold light, and their quiet presence draws attention to the end goal of what is taught in the building. Considering both the physical variety of currency and the value assigned to it, the title and the shifting light remind students of the changeable, ethereal nature of commerce.

The project received the Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review award, recognizing the best public art of 2014.