Voyage of Ulysses
Artist
David von Schlegell
Year1977
Classification
sculpture
Medium
stainless steel
Dimensionsmaximum: 192 x 342 x 78 in. (487.7 x 868.7 x 198.1 cm)
Credits
Commissioned through the Art in Architecture Program
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
Fine Arts Collection
U.S. General Services Administration
- Von Schlegell employs water and angular blocks of stainless steel to construct his vision of the "Voyage of Ulysses." The 16' high fountain, with its 60' wide water pool, was constructed in the front plaza of the William J. Green, Jr. Federal Building and Courthouse in Philadelphia in 1977. The title of the sculpture refers to Homer's Odyssey in Greek mythology. The work, "a glowing symbol of man's driving toward the unknown," becomes an active presence when water sprays up from the base of the fountain and is deflected and dispersed by the sharp planes which jut out from the roughly triangular form. "My intention is to heighten the experience of the whole place...so the object mediates between the person and the place and isn't just a thing, an end in itself."
