The Leonardo, continued
A lot of people will just be curious to get inside what was for many years Salt Lake's main library. There are virtually no books left, but the two-story Doug Snow painting commissioned when the library was first built, a vertical abstraction culminating in a white, bird-like form, is still there. Viewing it, as one used to, from the center escalators is made difficult by Hylozoic Veil, the installation by internationally renowned artist and architect, Phillip Beesley that creates an environment to explore the topic of “responsive architecture,”: an artificial forest of mechanical fronds surround you and respond to your presence, "almost like a giant lung breathing in and out around visitors."
Originally slated as a science museum (many people have had San Francisco's Exploratorium in mind), the Leonardo has turned out to be as much about technology as about science. Visitors will be able to learn about -- and more importantly create -- animations and films, using the Leonardo's green screen and digital capture studio in the Digital Commons. You'll be able to try on prosthetic feet and see what it is like to walk as an amputee.
The Leonardo is also much about contemporary art, especially where it intersects with science and technology disciplines. Separating the free lobby area from the first floor exhibition space, Brian Brush and Yong Ju Lee's The Dynamic Performance of Nature is a wave-shaped wall that spans the width of the building. Built of recycled plastic fins, the solar powered work contains a series of LED lights that creates patterns based on data generated by a network of crowd-sourced sensors.
The main floor contains a Video Gallery, which features short films like Al Haworth's Smog Lake City (see our article), and a Projects Gallery that features four art-science projects: Area Nano, Kate Nichols' delicate paintings using nano-particle paint; Suzanne Kanatsiz and Mick Allen's Sound Rings, an exploration of interactivity, sound and structure; TERRA . AUCTUS . I , which shows the rise and fall of wheatgrass and the beauty of layered life and death; and Holotype Location, Amy Caron's installation which begins this month as a skeletal rebar structure but which will be added on to over the next four months (we'll be looking at all four in more detail in blog posts this month).
The Leonardo also has a residency space where artists, designers and other creative professionals will set up their studio for a week or two at a time, allowing the public to watch them work and discuss their process.
And, finally, don't miss the Red Call Box, which is in the front lobby before you enter the main space. A project we first reported on in September of 2009, the Red Call Box is a British telephone booth transformed by a group of local artists into an exhibition space. The group includes painters, filmmakers, writers, actors and sculptors, and envisions using it as what Jann Haworth described as the "the world's smallest Mini-Multiplex: theatre /Cinema/Gallery and Museum."
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15 Bytes: About Us
Our editorial contributors this edition
The content you see in this magazine is provided by a fluid group of volunteers whose ability with the pen or camera is matched by their curiosity and enthusiasm for Utah's art world. 15 Bytes is an open community forum. If you are interested in writing an article, or providing images for our magazine contact editor Shawn Rossiter at editor@artistsofutah.org
 Simon Blundell is a Salt Lake native and has studied art, communication, journalism, design, and advertising. He has a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) and continues to explore photography and art in all its aspects. He loves music, literature, film, good food, travel, and motorcycles. |
 Jared Christensen grew up in North Ogden, Utah and finally moved to Salt Lake at the age of 18 to go to school. He is currently at Westminster College pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography. |
 Ehren Clark studied art history at both the University of Utah and the
University of Reading in the UK. He is now a professional writer. |
 Shalee Cooper is a freelance photographer and Curator. She is the Image Editor of 15 Bytes Magazine and an Associate Instructor at the University of Utah. She is currently working on The Heel Toe Project. |
 Sarah Barth-Jensen, the mother of five, taught Elementary School for a number of years and has exposed scores of children to the alphabet. She enjoys making natural stone jewelry. |
 Gerry Johnson was an engineer in a past life. A former film, now digital photographer, his work over the last 3 years has been "to capture the 'moments of beauty' that surround each of us in our daily lives, and present them to the viewer in a way that they can also experience the spirit of beauty."
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 Sue Martin holds an M.A. in Theatre and has worked in public relations. As an artist, she works in watercolor, oil, and acrylic to capture Utah landscapes or the beauty of everyday objects in still life. |
 Shawn Rossiter, a native of Boston, grew up on the East Coast. He has degrees in English, French and Italian Literature. He dropped out of a Masters program in Contemporary Literature to pursue a career as an artist. He founded Artists of Utah in 2001 and is editor of its magazine, 15 Bytes. |
 Will Thompson is a local photographer who specializes in work that is textural, intimate, and speaks to the space in our subconscious that seeks peace and tranquility. His work ranges from portraiture to abstract fine art. |
 Tony Watson is originally from Washington State but has lived most of his adult life in Utah. No one occupation has occupied his working hours but his leisure hours are spent either climbing southern Utah's redrock country or engaging his mind with aesthetic issues.
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