News Archives - 2007

What do you call an 18,000-pound sculpture made up of four, six-sided yellow diamond figures stacked on one another?

Some have called it a French fry, others have deemed it an Augsburg landmark, and even others consider it an eyesore.

But the real answer is "24 elements." The sculpture, which now towers between Urness Hall and Christensen Center, was created in July of 1978 by minimalist artist Henry Lande of Montana. It is a prime example of minimalist art in that it focuses on geometric shapes, is large in scale, and is a single color. The 24 equilateral sides represent the 24 hours in the day.

The sculpture originally stood outside of the downtown Honeywell Building (now Wells Fargo Mortgage). When the building was sold, however, the public art in the outdoor sculpture garden was donated to various locations including the Walker Art Center.

Honeywell Inc. gifted the sculpture to Augsburg in October of 1994 in honor of its Vice President of Public Affairs and Augsburg regent Ronald K. Speed, who had recently died.

"Public art can happen in small green spaces in really meaningful ways," says Tara Sweeney, assistant professor of art. "To be funded and be permanent is a really cool thing—it becomes a piece of Augsburg."