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Indiana Limestone

Indiana Limestone
Artist	Adolfo Doddoli
Year	1978
Type	Limestone
Dimensions	0.61 m × 0.40 m × 0.91 m (2 ft × 1.3 ft × 3 ft)
Location	Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

This article has a corresponding record in the SOS! [1])

Indiana Limestone, a public sculpture by Italian-American artist Adolfo Doddoli, is located on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, which is near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. The sculpture is located on the East corner of the North side of the Lecture hall under the overhang. The Lecture Hall is located at 325 University Blv in Indianapolis, Indiana. This sculpture commissioned for the Indianapolis University-Purdue University Indianapolis' (IUPUI) campus in the mid 1970's. It was installed by the artist.

Sculpture Description

'Indiana Limestone' was carved out of one 42"X40"X17.5" piece of limestone obtained from the Wooley Stone Company Inc. located in Bloomington Indiana. The sculpture was complete as of February 1976 and sat in storage at the Herron School of Art until its installation in 1978.

The shape of the sculpture is roughly oval with rounded and organic detailing. There is a channel-like indentation carved into the front of the sculpture. The edges of the top and bottom of both the sculpture as a whole and the channel are scalloped giving the impression of a clam opening. The fluid structure of the shape contrasts with the hardness of the material used. Doddoli favored this juxtaposition using it as a reference to the industrial age. A plaque bearing the title, name of the artist and date is located on the proper left front corner of the base of the sculpture just above the concrete base pedestal.

Sculpture Information

Sculpture Commission

This sculpture was one of four commissioned by IUPUI in the mid 1970's for installation around Cavaugh Hall and other high traffic areas. The proposals/works were selected by an internal committee and funded by national grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and matching fund from Friends of the University. Other artists selected at the time were Gary Edison, Gary Freeman and Charles Hook. Each artist was given $1000 for materials and production.

Sculpture Placement and Installation

The artist requested its placement at the North side of the Lecture Hall under the overhang so as to protect the sculpture from corrosion. He also requested a 3 foot high pedestal base to be used to mount the sculpture. A request was issued for the creation of this base in February 1976 citing the space the finished sculpture was taking up in Herron's art studios, but there is no evidence that it was made until the installation in 1978.

Labeling the Sculpture

The sculpture was installed in 1978 without a label. Arthur Weber, Dean of the Herron School of Art indicated that each of the sculptures commissioned for campus should be clearly labeled. Through a series of memorandums in 1978 and 1979 between Weber, Vice Chancellor Moore, Gary Freeman and Adolfo Doddoli a plaque was made and eventually installed on the base of the sculpture some time after June 5, 1979.

Artist

Education

Adolfo Doddoli is from Florence, Italy where he studied at the Instituto Statale D'Arte. He obtained his maestro d'arte at the age of 18 and furthered his studies at the same institution, obtaining a second degree which allowed him to teach. In 1960 he emigrated to the United States of America to study at the Colorado College in Colorado Springs with a foreign student scholarship. After a short break from school to teach Doddoli attended the University of Kentucky at Lexington where he obtained a Masters in fine arts in 1969. Conversly, The Herron Chronicle, a book detailing the first 100 years of the Herron School of Art, list's Doddoli's MFA as coming from Northern Illinois University.

Employment

After studying at Colorado College for a year Doddoli taught at Southern Colorado State College at Pueblo. He later worked in a casting house in New York state before attending the University of Kentucky. In the fall of 1969 Doddoli joined the Herron School of Art where he taught fundamentals of Design on a one year contract. He returned the next year as a full faculty member, staying at Herron until 1999 retiring as Associate Professor Emeritus. While at Herron, Doddoli chaired the 1988 herron Building Committee. This committee compiled the needs assessment plan which proposed a new building for the School. It would take more than 10 years for the work indicated in the needs assessment to come to fruition.

Other Work

In 1987, two chairs designed by Adolfo Doddoli were included in the exhibition "Topeka Kansas 1987." This exhibition featured furniture designs by thirteen artists and was held in the LimeLight gallery in Dearborn, Michigan.

Location History

'Indiana Limestone' was stored in the Herron School of Art from at least February 23, 1976 to its installation on the North side of the Lecture Hall before August 1978. Since the installation of the sculpture it has not been moved from its position at the East corner of the North side of the Lecture Hall which is located at 325 University Blv in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Condition

'Indiana Limestone' was examined and documented on November 16, 2009. On this day the sculpture appeared to be in fair condition. It is structurally sound and firmly attached to its base. The concrete base is in fair to good condition with only one major chip (located on the front face) and some discoloration streaking down from the sculpture. The sculpture itself has no structural damage (chips, nicks, cracks) but shows evidence of corrosion from water damage. This damage is mild to moderate in various locations on the sculpture. Over all, however, the decision to place it under the overhang of the building has probably cut the amount of possible corrosion considerably.

Limestone is a porous sedimentary stone made mostly of calcium carbonate. As such it is very reactive to acid solutions. Acid rain can be highly corrosive to exposed limestone. The burning of fossil fuels expels sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere where it is then transformed into sulfuric acid. This acid then falls back to the surface in the form of acid rain. Acid rain affects limestone by turning it's exposed surface to gypsum, a rock even more porous than limestone. This leads to further permeation of the stone which weakens it and opens it up to possible infestation from mold. The gypsum also incorporates other elements from the surrounding atmosphere which creates a black crust on the corroded limestone.

'Indiana Limestone' shows evidence of corrosion in many places. There are black spots on the top of the stone that vary in size from pinpoints to slightly smaller than a dime. The many of the top edges on the front surface of the sculpture show significant blackening and the back of the sculpture is streaked with brown, gray and black discoloration running down the length of the sculpture and continuing down the base. The extent of the damage appears to be only the discoloration, but there could be more damage beyond the surface. Further examination by a conservation professional is needed to determine if cleaning and/or other conservation work is warranted.

Documentation

A Museum Studies course at IUPUI recently undertook the project of researching and reporting on the condition of 40 outdoor sculptures on the university campus. Indiana Limestone was included in this movement. This documentation was influenced by the successful Save Outdoor Sculpture! 1989 campaign organized by Heritage Preservation: The National Institute of Conservation partnered with the Smithsonsian Institution, specifically the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Throughout the 1990s, over 7,000 volunteers nationwide have cataloged and assessed the condition of over 30,000 publicly accessible statues, monuments, and sculptures installed as outdoor public art across the United States .

See Also

Limestone

The Seated Scribe

Indiana Limestone

External Links

SIRIS Database Entry

Images in the IUPUI Collection Care and Management Group

Navigation Templates

Category:IUPUI public art collection Category:Outdoor sculptures in Indianapolis Category:Culture of Indianapolis

Orange Curves

Orange Curves
Artist	Brent Gann
Year	2000
Type	Painted Steel Height: 4 feet (1.2 m) Length: 4 feet (1.2 m) Width: 3 feet (0.91 m)
Dimensions	1.2 m × 0.91 m × 1.2 m (4 ft × 3 ft × 4 ft)
Location	Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Orange Curves, a public sculpture by American artist Brent Gann, is located on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus, which is near downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Orange Curves is an abstract metal sculpture consisting of three steel curves that have been welded together at angles creating a three-dimensional composition. The entire sculpture has been painted orange. It is located on the North side of the Lecture Hall which is located at 325 University Blv.

Sculpture Description

'Orange Curves' consists of three cast steel curves welded together. When looking at the proper front of the sculpture the middle curve appears to be the link between the bottom and top curves. This middle curve resembles a backward "c" with the top curve looped through the top of the inverted "c" and the bottom curved looped through the bottom middle portion of the same middle curve. Both the bottom and the middle curves are attached to the base with additional pieces of steel which have been bolted into the concrete base. The composition does not appear to suggest anything representational. Each curve is similar in size in shape but are not identical. The entire sculpture, except the attaching bolts, has been painted orange.

Metal is often cast, welded or both to create a sculpture. Orange curves shows evidence of both. To cast metal it must be heated in a forge to a temperature above melting point, then it is taken from the forge and poured into a mold. This mold can be made of a variety of materials ranging from metal to ceramic, but the mold must be carefully reinforced to prevent it from breaking or leaking as the metal cools and hardens. Welding is a process that joins two pieces of metal in a strong joint by applying heat and sometimes pressure that cools to form the joint. After the joint cools there is a joint line consisting filler metal and the metal of the two pieces that have been joined. Steel is an alloy, that is, it is a composite of more than one metal. The specific proportions of the different types of metal in steel can make it a very challenging material to work with.

Artist

Brent Gann is and American Artist who obtained B.F.A.'s in both Visual Communication and Sculpture from Herron School of Art and Design in 2000. He also received a certificate in Computer Science in 2002. He has worked as a graphic designer for Pathology Multimedia Education Group since 1999.

Location History

An image on the artist's website. indicates that this sculpture was exhibited inside in another context at one time before it was installed in its present location.

Condition

'Orange Curves' was observed and documented on November 16, 2009. The sculpture and base appear to be in good condition. Both are structurally sound. On November 16th two areas were noted that appeared to be paint loss, further examination on November 30, 2009 concluded that these were actual areas of dirt accumulation. This thick dirt appeared to be the color of the cast steel under the paint layer. The only conservation concern at this time is the thin layer of dirt that has accumulated over the entire sculpture as well as pockets of thick dirt. The bolts that hold the sculpture to the base appear to be sound and show no evidence of rust. The base itself is solid with no damage noted.

All metal is by nature reactive, that is its chemical make-up is constantly responding to its environment. This is most commonly called corrosion. It occurs when the elements in the metal experience re-mineralization. In iron and steel this commonly occurs in the presence of water. Outdoor sculptures are exposed to rain, ice and snow in Indiana which can lead to corrosion. The paint layer over the steel is currently keeping this process from occurring. It is imperative then that the paint layer stays intact. This should be considered when determining what if any cleaning process will occur with this sculpture. It is also important to note that the dirt itself is abrasive and therefore it may not be ideal to leave it on the sculpture.

See Also

Vault (sculpture)

Minimalism

Abstract Art

External Links

IUPUI Collection Care and Management Group Gallery

Navigation Templates

Category:IUPUI public art collection Category:Outdoor sculptures in Indianapolis Category:Culture of Indianapolis