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Martinsburg, Red, White, Blue by Clyde Lynds
Photo CreditGSA\Saul Roberts
Photo CaptionMartinsburg, Red, White, Blue: Martinsburg Red
Martinsburg, Red, White, Blue
Photo CreditGSA\Saul Roberts
Photo CaptionMartinsburg, Red, White, Blue: Martinsburg Red

Martinsburg, Red, White, Blue

Artist
Year1999
Classification sculpture
Medium concrete, fiber optics
Dimensionseach panel: 3 x 3 ft., 5 in. (91.4 x 91.4 x 12.7 cm)
each base: 44 x 15 x 12 in. (111.8 x 38.1 x 30.5 cm)
Credits Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Location
  • The three sculptures, collectively titled "Martinsburg Red, White, Blue," have the look and feel of solild granite, but are actually made of a uniquely blended concrete into which fiber optic cables have been embedded during fabrication.  Each of the works takes its name from the predominant color of its fiber optic pattern.  "Martinsburg Red" has a central star delineated solely by lines etched into the surface.  Fifty lines, representing the fifty states, radiate outward, suggesting light coming from the star and representing the flow of information to and from the Center.  Points of light move along the lines in a variety of colors and rhythms.  At certain times, the words, "Out of many, one," a translation of E Pluribus Unum, forms on the surface of the star.


    "Martinsburg White" features polished numerals in relief against a sandblasted surface.  Lines of light come and go, connecting the numbers in an ever-changing geometric display.  Gradually, the lines form a field of fifty stars overlaying the block of numbers.  The numbers, which seem random, actually form a chronology of dates of important events in American history.


    "Martinsburg Blue" has a field of fifty stars incised into the surface of a central square, which is raised and polished.  Lines in geometric arrangements flow to and from the square, suggesting the forms of organizations, charts, wiring diagrams, computer chips, or a network of information that flows to and from the fifty states and the Center.  Light travels across the sculpture in a changing display of color and movement.  The small lines that appear on the square form a map of Martinsburg with a central star indicating the site of the building.