uboc No.1 & stuVi2
Artist: Florian Dombois
Curator: Mary Sherman

For TransCultural Exchange’s 2013 International Conference on Opportunities in the Arts, the organization commissioned the German/Swiss artist Florian Dombois to produce a new, public artwork as the Conference’s artistic centerpiece. Dombois’ uboc No.1 & stuVi2 consisted of a blue-green laser shot over half a mile between Boston University’s new student dorm (StuVi2) and its Law School from October 10-12, 2013.

Mary Sherman served as the curator, securing the artist, sites, funds, permits, publicity and laser team to fulfill the project, which included a laser stretched across the only site in America where all the most common modes of transportation converge. It spans a major interstate (I-90), busy flight pattern (Logan), waterway (the Charles River), railroad line (Amtrak and the local commuter rail), bike path, and auto and pedestrian bridge. As such, it was an ideal metaphor for TransCultural Exchange’s 2013 Conference on International Opportunities in the Arts’ convening of so many people from around the world, united by the belief in the power of art. The stunning line of light also measured and broadcasted the geophysical displacement between the two buildings (via the internet), making poetically visible the sway between them. The piece, thus, underscored the Conference’s theme, “Engaging Minds,” which was chosen to encourage artists not only learn about ways in which they can engage with their international peers, but also ways that their work can engage in with people in other fields of discipline.

A PDF for the project’s brochure, designed by Siyi Wang, including Mary Sherman’s essay, is available here.

More information about the TransCultural Exchange’s 2013 International Conference on Opportunities in the Arts: Engaging Minds is available here.