NEW COMMISSION BY SARAH OPPENHEIMER OPENS AT UT AUSTIN, PART OF LANDMARKS’ PUBLIC ART PROGRAM
C-010106 represents artist’s first entirely outdoor work and largest to date
July 11, 2022 – Austin, Texas – Landmarks, the public art program of The University of Texas at Austin, announces the opening of C-010106, a major new work by New York-based artist Sarah Oppenheimer. Commissioned by Landmarks for UT’s Cockrell School of Engineering, C-010106 consists of two structures positioned at opposite ends of a new pedestrian footbridge on the Texas Engineering campus. Each structure features four panes of glass¾two reflective, diagonal sheets sandwiched between two vertical sheets. At the intersection of the four panes, the glass passes through an incision in the bridge’s surface, enabling pedestrians on top of the bridge to see the reflections of those underneath, and vice versa.
C-010106 will open in late August and will be celebrated on September 15 with an online conversation between Oppenheimer and Lumi Tan (Senior Curator at The Kitchen, New York). The event will also feature a video premiere of a new work of choreography by ARCOS, inspired by C-010106. Registration is free and open to the public.
Oppenheimer pushes the boundaries between sculpture and architecture, questioning the limits of both mediums. The artist shifts our frame of spatial reference, displacing our experience of inside and out, and inverting our sense of what is near and far. In doing so, Oppenheimer heightens our awareness of the shared environment and creates unexpected opportunities for social exchange.
“We’re working with an inventor who questions everything,” said Landmarks Founding Director and Curator Andrée Bober. “Oppenheimer draws scientists and engineers into a journey that is driven by curiosity. I can’t think of a more apt place for this work than the center of innovation and discovery at the Cockrell School of Engineering.”
“C-010106 is a catalyst: it reconfigures social patterns emerging within the flux of public place. I am eager to see the piece animated by intimate exchanges passing through and around its contours,” said Oppenheimer.
C-010106 is Oppenheimer’s first entirely outdoor public work and is among the artist’s largest works to date. Sited on the Peyton Yates Family footbridge connecting the Engineering Education and Research Center (EERC) to the new Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building (GLT)— designed through a collaboration of Jacobs and Ennead—the work features architectural materials that have been engineered with unique specificity.
“Sarah has developed an extremely thoughtful concept that challenges our perceptions and uses materials in an innovative manner,” said Sharon L. Wood, former dean of the Cockrell School and current university provost. “The fusion of art and engineering creates an exciting opportunity for our community, and I believe C-010106 will inspire future generations of Texas Engineering students to think creatively about technical challenges.”
Since its founding in 2008, Landmarks has become a leading university public art program in the United States. Under the leadership of founding director and curator Andrée Bober, Landmarks continues to expand its programming and collection, which is publicly accessible and free to all, providing opportunities for students and visitors to engage with great works of art. Displayed across UT Austin’s 433-acre campus, the collection comprises 28 sculptures on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art along with acquisitions and commissions by artists including Michael Ray Charles, Ann Hamilton, Simone Leigh, José Parlá, Nancy Rubins, Jennifer Steinkamp, and James Turrell.
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ABOUT SARAH OPPENHEIMER
Sarah Oppenheimer (b. 1972, Austin, Texas) has lived and worked in New York City since earning a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in 1995 and an Master in Fine Arts from Yale University in 1999. Oppenheimer’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland (2020); MASS MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts (2019); the Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio (2017); the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida (2016); MUDAM: Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2016); and Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz, Switzerland (2014). The artist is a recipient of the Rome Prize Fellowship (2011–12), Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Fellowship (2009), and Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship (2007). Oppenheimer is currently a senior critic at the Yale University School of Art. sarahoppenheimer.com
ABOUT LANDMARKS
Landmarks is the award-winning public art program of The University of Texas at Austin and the College of Fine Arts. Landmarks’ collection of modern and contemporary art celebrates diverse perspectives, featuring commissioned projects alongside sculptures on long-term loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Landmarks inspires thought and growth by making great art free and accessible to all. For more information: landmarksut.org
ABOUT THE COCKRELL SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
The Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin has been a global leader in technology advancement and engineering education for more than a century. Texas Engineering has launched some of the nation’s most accomplished industry and academic leaders and pioneered world-changing solutions in virtually every industry, from space exploration to energy to health care. For more information: cockrell.utexas.edu
Image caption: Sarah Oppenheimer, Detail of C-010106, 2022. Photo by Richard Barnes
Additional information and high-resolution images available here.