Background Information

Sculpted by Actual Size Artworks (Gail Simpson and Aristotle Georgiades). "Our goal was to enliven the lobby and entry space with a sculpturally dynamic form that expresses the idea of research as exploration into uncharted areas. The theme of the sculpture is "orders of magnitude", the ordering system used by the sciences to sort phenomena from the most basic to the most complex. A sculptural matrix hung high in the atrium presents a grid pattern loosening up as it ascends. The grid pattern represents rational thought and human-made systems. As it breaks down (or up) it suggests either order becoming unpredictable and breaking free, or chaos coalescing into order, depending on whether one is going upstairs or down. The images in the elevator glass are based on photos of natural phenomena, drawn from the research of UW-W students and faculty. The images are arranged from simple at the bottom floor, to complex as they ascend to the upper floors, representing the concept of "orders of magnitude" and the poetic possibilities inherent in the notion of trying to analyze and organize the world according to its level of complexity."