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“Untitled” Quasi-Crystal Sculpture Press Release
_For Immediate Release
August 13, 2004
New York Artist Tony Robbins Installs Large Sculpture at Pablo Creek Regional Branch Library
JACKSONVILLE, FL – New York-based artist Tony Robbin has installed a large-scale artwork at the new Pablo Creek Regional Branch Library, 13295 Beach Boulevard. The colorful 15-foot sculpture hangs over the main doors of the new branch library. The work will be unveiled at the library’s Grand Opening on October 1, 2004. The project is part of Jacksonville’s Art in Public Places Program.
The artwork is a structure of aluminum rods, ‘nodes’ and brightly-colored acrylic plates which link together in a molecular-like structure. The piece measures approximately 15-feet wide by eight-feet high and three-feet deep. Although structured out of metal and weighing nearly 300 pounds, the artwork has a light quality as it hangs above the main doors in the entry foyer of the branch library.
Artist Tony Robbin has worked in painting, sculpture, light, architecture, and computer art for over 30 years; he first exhibited, at New York’s Whitney Museum, in 1974. Based in New York, he is well known for his groundbreaking work in four-dimensional geometry, used in both paintings and sculpture. His interest in exploring four-dimensional geometry through computers and in his art, led him to creating sophisticated programs for which he became known in both the mathematics and computer art communities.
Robbin’s work at the Pablo Creek Regional Branch Library focuses on Quasicrystal geometry, for which he holds the patent as it applies to architecture. He has lectured and written widely on the subject. To date, Robbin has made one other permanent structure, a large architectural sculpture in Denmark. Completed in 1994 and on display until 2003, the art work is no longer exhibited, making Robbin’s work in Jacksonville his only public sculpture in the world. Robbin will be giving a lecture on his art and research the evening of October 1, at the UNF Fine Arts Center; details will be available closer to that date.
“The (Art Selection) Committee was excited about Tony Robbin’s work, not just artistically but also in terms of the intellectual content and approach that forms the basis for it,” said Jeffrey Dunn, Chairman of the Art in Public Places Commission. “The resulting sculpture is energetic, colorful and stimulating, making it appropriate for a library.”
The Pablo Creek Regional Branch Library is one of six new branch libraries funded by the voter-approved Better Jacksonville Plan which also includes 12 renovations of existing branch libraries and a new 300,000 square-foot Main Library.
The Art in Public Places Ordinance, passed by the City Council in 1997, mandates the dedication of three-quarters of one percent of construction and design costs of new or renovated public facilities for the purchase of public art. The Art in Public Places Program includes large- scale works at the new Main Library, the Arena, the Ballpark, the Equestrian Center and other projects.
The Art in Public Places Program (APP) is overseen by the city’s appointed Public Art Commission and administered by the APP Director, with technical assistance provided by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. For more information, contact the Art in Public Places Office at 358-3600, x 11, or visit .