TulaneLSU's Top 10 sculptures in the Auburn University sculpture garden

10. "Stroll in the Park" by Robbie Barber



Although he is a Texan by birth, Barber’s first appearance on this list comes from a work right at home in Alabama. After driving the backroads of Alabama last week, I can see why this work received the runner-up award this year for the museum’s outdoor sculpture competition.


9. “Angles of Repose” by Gregory Johnson



This metal is more a slice than an angle, and as Auburn is a pizza town, it is fitting that one of its best outdoor art pieces reminds us of the culinary heart of campus.


8. “O K Buoy” by Roger Halligan



If I understood why this piece of steel and concrete from Portland spoke to me I would understand myself better. But as it is, I do not understand it. But I stood in front this piece for two hours, mesmerized by it, yet not knowing why. I think that mystery kept my attention for so long.


7. House Made From Chairs,



I believe this structure is made entirely from discarded parts of old chairs. I do not know the author or the actual title. If you know, please let me know. I appreciate recycling in this world of convenient trashing of good things. How many Americans have torn down perfectly good houses to build their so-called dream house? What a waste. This work twists that philosophy and shows that homes can be made from material that is deemed landfill worthy.


6. “Dreams of Flying" by Robbie Barber



A whimsical take the new HGTV house dreaming phenomen, Barber’s piece mocks climbing middle classers who seek to have granite countertops, open floor concept, and all new everything. This piece reminds us that we can ascend even from a modest, dilapidated old shotgun. The ascension is not an upgrade in our physical homes but a movement toward our true home above, a place where He has gone before us to prepare a place for us and will come again to take us to be there with Him. There is no good angle to capture adequately this piece because it has so many dimensions. Photography fails the reality.


5. Stones



Again, I do not know the name of the piece nor the artist. I see the stones as representing each of our hearts, which is hardened to the truth of God. Only when the Cross enters that hard spot does grace enter and fill the chasm and emptiness that so hardens us.


4. “Down Where Paradise Lays” by Patrick Dougherty





A remold of Dougherty’s immensely successful “Out in Front” exhibition, this inviting series of huts is made entirely from American sweetgum saplings. Walking and sitting within this shaded area opened the oft criticized and universally underappreciated book of Leviticus to me. I recalled when the author of that book told the Israelites to remember the Exodus by taking the product of local hadar trees and willows to make booths. In those booths Israelites were to live one week to remember that it was in such booths their ancestors lived during their exodus from Egypt. Today, Jews still celebrate Succoth, the Festival of the Booths. I celebrated a little earlier this year in Auburn.


3. “Basics #38” by Matthias Neumann



There is no mistaking the fingerprint of an architect in this most basic of pieces. It is that simplicity of material -- entirely constructed of unpainted, plain 2x4s -- and shape that brings the beauty to this piece. In several ways, this was my favorite piece in the entire garden, and may indeed be the most lasting in the entire sculpture garden. Of all of his nationwide “Basics” campaign, this is far and away Neumann’s best piece. One may see this as X’s and O’s. I see it as two Christ fish coming together to give the world a kiss.


2. “Figure of Infinite” by Pal Svensson



Anglican priest and mathematician, John Wallis (1616–1703), is the first to introduce this symbol to the world to represent infinite. This symbol, of course, was not to represent God, but instead a mathematical concept, which for him may not have been mutually exclusive. I think he takes the symbol from the Greek Omega, as in the end and telos of all. It looks quite similar. This Mobius strip weights 6500 pounds and took Svensson and an assistant eight months to carve. If only more people devoted their talents to such labors!

Svensson’s granite symbol is actually a fraud. The infinite symbol is not an upright eight, as his sculpture depicts but a horizontal figure eight. Whether this misplacement is intentional, intending for us to meditate on the infinite or simply ignorance, I do not know. The misplacement, like a grammatical error, did give me pause and occasion to pray, so I thank him for his mistake or his proding.


1. “Corona” by Lin Emery



Before anyone claims that I am a New Orleans artist homeburger, please note that I did not include in this top ten Alex Podesta’s ridiculous “Self Portrait as Bunnies” in the museum’s pond. Corona is both timely and timeless, as its polished aluminum pieces circle and drift in the wind. Emery is truly one of the great American sculpturists and one of the great treasures of the New Orleans art world. Auburn would be a far lesser place without Emery’s New Orleans presence.

Faith, Hope, and Love,
TulaneLSU

P.S. I include a few more pieces for your enjoyment.



“You’ll Shoot Your Eye Out II” by Joni Younkins Herzog is neither art nor is it good. It is based on a horrible movie that has nothing to do with Christmas except seasonal setting. It is cheap, in fact, worthless, and only exists for mass consumption by the uncultured despisers of art. The Auburn museum should be ashamed to display such refuse.



Part of Todd McCain’s “Lost Bird Project,” this bronze set of now extinct birds is supposed to be a serious jeremiad. However, with guano plastered over each bird’s head, there is a sense of irony and humor, which nature throws at the artist and the animal crusaders.



Incompatible. This is not art.

@

B

Friend,

Mother has a new method to help me with that problem.

Yours,
TulaneLSU