Binary Systems
Artist
Jim Sanborn
Year1999
Classification
sculpture
Medium
copper, lodestone and granite
Dimensionsvarying
Credits
Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
- Binary Systems is comprised of three elements.
Binary encoded information is created and retrieved from magnetic storage by an electromagnetic head through which, or past which, the tape or disk moves. The first element is a representation of this magnetic system. A 4 ft. high copper screen perforated by letters that spell the names of all the Presidents of the United States and the Secretaries of the Treasury appears to pass through an 11 ton lodestone and come out of the other side with those names converted into binary code. The second element is a 16 ft. square of gray granite paver inlaid into the plaza itself. It is an enlarged representation of a computer chip with its stored binary code. Binary numbers--"0" or "1"-- are sandblasted into the surface of each stone to create an encoded message. The third element is a 10ft. diameter polished, black granite circle representing a magnetic storage disk; it rests on a granite base. The disk is inscribed with numbers representing the Social Security numbers that identify all American taxpayers whose records are stored at the facility. This piece functions as both an art work and seating.
