Susan Narduli's Land & Time, courtesy Utah Arts & Museums

Susan Narduli’s “Land and Time,” a multi-media installation at the Natural History Museum of Utah, was selected by  The Americans for the Arts Public Art Network’s Year in Review as one of the top 50 public artworks in the United States for 2011.

Narduli’s work begins outside with etched concrete sidewalks and continues just inside the museum’s main entrance with faceted walls displaying real-time data projections. This project makes use of mapping – both literally and conceptually – to contemplate how we perceive, depend on and understand our environment. It draws first upon what we can readily see in our immediate surroundings, and then makes visible the profound forces that underlie and shape that physical world.

Narduli is a Los Angeles-based artist who began as a figurative sculptor and began pursuing large-scale public art works after studying architecture.

“Land and Time” is another example of the type of projects brought to the public through Utah’s Percent-for-Art Act, passed in 1985, which allows for 1% of construction costs for new or remodeled state facilities to be added to the project for the commissioning or acquisition of art that is site-specific to the facility and community.

Utah’s Public Art Program worked with an art selection committee representing the museum, the University of Utah, the Division of Facilities Construction and Management, the architects, Utah Arts Council Board members and visual artists in reviewing 205 applications from all across the country and selecting Narduli for the commission.

Americans for the Arts Public Art Network’s Year in Review recognizes public art projects that represent the most compelling work from across the country, and is the only national program that specifically recognizes and awards public art projects for outstanding excellence.

additional images of the work are available here.

15 Bytes

UTAH’S ART MAGAZINE SINCE 2001, 15 Bytes is published by Artists of Utah, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.