Created and Sold by Mel Ristau

The Fabric of Knowledge

Item details

Suspended kinetic sculpture/mobile early integration project for Colorado State University Behavioral Sciences Building atrium, Fort Collins, CO
15 x 6 x 30’ (H,W,D)
Weight: 300 lbs distributed over 6 suspension points
Specific Media/Materials: stainless steel, aluminum
Style: Minimal/Nature
Goals:
Aspen leaves spinning over a sunlit Colorado stream and a diverse student community are associations woven into this suspended kinetic sculpture. The work is composed of
stainless steel cable, tube and rod, and 920 variously textured aluminum panels. The sculpture folds and unfolds like a curtain of branches stirring a reflective texture. Forever shifting, changing and unfolding as is “The Fabric of Knowledge”.
Additional Info:
"Mel approaches each design opportunity with incredible thoughtfulness and professionalism. He integrates his art gracefully into the surrounding architecture, and both of his installations at CSU, Communities of Light and The Fabric of Knowledge, have received high praise from the campus community. “
Maddy Yovanoff, LEED AP, Colorado State University

Context & Credits

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Meet the Creator

A native of the Louisiana Gulf Coast, studio Northern Colorado since 2001.

My day-to-day includes dialog with other professionals on interior sculpture of monumental scale as well as periods of quiet building smaller scale, personal work.

My work is about being alive within and moving through the mesh of our cultural, natural and social worlds. It ranges over such themes as the quality of materials, what it means to make things and the experiences of light, space and mystery. The sculptures that I make are the result of play and the interplay of structure, color, movement, balance and refined craft.