Interactive artistry comes to Lu MEB

Just outside the east entrance of the Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building (Lu MEB) stands a new piece of public art. Called "Grasp," the three metal vertical arms move back and forth with the power of a simple handle-crank on the base. On the back of the gearbox, glass panels allow the user to see the gears at work.

So, give it a turn!

The piece comes as part of the major renovations to Lu MEB which were completed in 2021. The “Art-in-Architecture” program allocates .5 percent of the overall project budget to public art. The Grainger College of Engineering had requested a sculpture that moves from wind or rain or was otherwise kinetic. Artist Pete Beeman was chosen in July 2021.

“On this piece, I really wanted to talk about mechanical engineering,” Beeman said. “That was very important to me, and it’s why the gearbox down below has glass in it, so you can see what’s going on. You can figure out exactly what the mechanics are.”

As for what the art means, Beeman asks the viewer to “bring what their own mind says.”

“I work in the abstract, so I don’t like to say too specific, but I was thinking about something that had a sort of high-minded spiritual-ness of a cathedral, but the mechanical engineering of gears and structural engineering. It’s reaching for the above and the beyond. I was thinking about the grasp, and it’s called Grasp, so grasping a concept, and it’s doing a simple mechanical grasping.”

Erika Lee, interior designer and project manager for F&S, also grasped the intentions of stakeholders as part of the renovation and construction project at Lu MEB. She and the other members of the MEB Art in Architecture Committee helped determine the artist and placement, as well as organize the responsible employees and necessary equipment.

“The sculpture has purpose and meaning to the facility in which it stands in front of,” she said. “Beeman’s expertise in engineering fit the artwork call for this facility extremely well.”

F&S Construction Services saved the day, or days, when it came to helping installation in the week of September 25. Throughout the installation process, the project stayed ahead of schedule as the art arrived in pieces in a large wooden crate, which had to be meticulously opened with a series of screws and bolts.

“It was really fun, and super great working here,” Beeman said. “It was more help than I ever get, which is fantastic. The university has been great to work with, all the way through.”

Beeman said he’s especially happy with the location, at the intersection of Green St. and Goodwin Ave., and was surprised when he arrived on campus to see its centrality to campus locations and transportation.

“I had no idea how busy this intersection was until I pulled up the first day. It was like ‘Ohhh, there’s thousands of people who move by it every day.'”

Those thousands offered their thoughts, real-time, as Beeman and F&S got the art in place.

“It’s been fun to do with this many people around. I get all my usual responses and a whole lot more. My favorite response is when somebody walks up and says, “What the hell is that?!” with a big smile on their face. I know that’s just right. There’s been a lot of super positive responses. It’s been really nice.”

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Read the News-Gazette's feature on the sculpture >>