In 2008, the Indianapolis Museum of Art commissioned artist
Robert Irwin, to create Light and Space III for the Pulliam Great Hall.
The combination of fluorescent light tubes and translucent scrim
tranforms the entire hall into an installation, allowing visitors the opportunity
to experience a piece that both illuminates the area in an arrangement
of irregular rectangles, and provides a transition
to the many galleries surrounding the hall.
With Irwin's minimalist conception, he gives the viewer
the opportunity to experience art in a functional way,
one that also allows them to see that a mundane object can also
perform a transformative role in the way they see their surroundings.
On my last visit, Light and Space III gave me a different
view of the escalators, both in the soft shine
of the stainless steel railings and in the perspective,
as the stairs moved from one level to the next.
