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Texas Rising
2014
JOE O’CONNELL AND BLESSING HANCOCK (AMERICAN)
Stainless Steel and LED Lights
West Village
The stainless steel and LED light sculptures depict stars in
various stages of emerging from the ground. They are made
from perforated stainless steel and lit from within by colored
LED lights. The cutout symbols in each of the sculptures relate
to Texas Tech traditions and campus life and also contains
hidden icons that viewers are challenged to discover. One of
the pieces incorporates a touch sensor that allows viewers to
interact directly with it to change the color of the LED lights.
The artists were inspired by the symbol of a star as it relates
to the state of Texas, and conceptually, the various sculptures
represent different stages in the development of a student.
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