Thomas Wolfe famously wrote "You can't go home again," but Nasher Sculpture Center is breaking that axiom with the announcement of the eighth installment in its Nasher Xchange program.
A sculpture by artist Charles Long entitled Fountainhead will be installed at NorthPark Center when Xchange kicks off on October 19, 2013.
NorthPark, of course, is the first place that Raymond Nasher chose to publicly exhibit works from his vast collection when he built the mall in 1965. NorthPark remains home to multiple artworks to this day, including the towering orange sculpture called Ad Astra that resides in the mall's NorthCourt.
Joining that group will be Long's work, which will be a virtual fountain designed to inspire giving. The electronic sculpture, which will be located in the mall's SouthCourt, will have projected images of sheets of dollar bills moving down its surface to give the impression of water flowing.
Surrounding the sculpture will be three kiosks equipped with iPads where visitors can donate money to one of three charities - Bookmarks, a branch of the Dallas Public Library aimed at children located inside NorthPark, Dallas CASA and the North Texas Food Bank.
After donating via a credit card swipe or by dropping coins in a slot, a coin will appear on the screen of the iPad that the donors can then flick toward the sculpture, where will it make a virtual splash. It's an interactive experience that Long hopes will be embraced by NorthPark shoppers.
"In Fountainhead, I sought to encourage the passerby to give up something of value before an anticipating audience," Long says in a press release. "I wanted to see what a massive fountain of money issuing endlessly forth might feel like as a public spectacle. There is decadence, but then there is this social act of giving. I chose charities proximally close to the lives of the participants so that their giving had a more tangible meaning.”
NorthPark Center kicked off the giving by donating $10,000 to each of the charities at the announcement. That was followed by a ceremonial coin toss where officials from the charities, Nasher representatives and others tossed dollar coins into the real fountain in the court just outside of Dillard's.
Long's sculpture joins the seven other Nasher Xchange pieces already announced, including ones from Ruben Ochoa, Rick Lowe, Ugo Rondinone, Liz Larner, Alfredo Jaar, the Good/Bad Art Collective and Vicki Meek. Two more projects will be announced in the coming weeks.
Representatives from the Nasher, the three charities who will benefit from the sculpture and others participated in a ceremonial coin toss at NorthPark Center.
