Star Field
Artist
Douglas Hollis
Year2004
Classification
environmental art
Medium
stainless steel
Dimensionsvaried
Credits
Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
- The artwork that Doug Hollis was commissioned by GSA to create for the new United States Federal Building campus in Oklahoma City serves important practical and symbolic functions. "Star Field" is a constellation of robust stainless steel benches that march across the building's park. The bold, star-shaped silhouettes and all-over perforation of the benches cast dramatic shadows, which shift throughout the day. The artist's emblematic use of stars was inspired partly by the history of the U.S. flag, with its own field of stars that multiplied and were rearranged as the nation grew. The forty-six benches that constitute "Star Field" allude to Oklahoma entering the Union as the forty-sixth state. The five-pointed star is also featured prominently in the state's seal, on which each point represents one of the major Native American tribes of Oklahoma (the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole Nations). The humble yet sturdy park bench has long been an iconic feature of American cities, and serves as a type of stage where we perform the familiar daily rituals of our lives-like waiting for an appointment, eating a sandwich, or reading a newspaper. With "Star Field," Hollis has transformed this familiar perch into a new form that is as delightful as it is evocative.
- Douglas Hollis (b. 1948, Ann Arbor, Michigan) and Anna Valentina Murch (b. 1948, Dumbarton, Scotland - d. 2014, San Francisco, California)2005
