STARTUP 3 | Page 67

LeWitt, Marc Quinn, Ben Rubin, Nancy Rubins, and James Turrell. Landmarks’ public art collection is broadly accessible and free to all, providing opportunities for students and visitors to engage with great works of art.

“Hamilton’s commission epitomizes many of her longstanding concerns, expressed in Austin as a series of photographs among other forms,” said Andrée Bober, the founding director of the program. “Her portraits represent individuals and their common conditions, and encompass the full arc of human existence—where life appears, where the soma and psyche are cared for, and where it ends.” Clay Johnston, dean of the Dell Medical School adds, “Public art that starts conversations and inspires creativity and community connections is vital to the culture we’re trying to promote. In particular, the collaboration at the core of this project reflects the medical school's close connection with our community, as well as the important role people from all walks of life play in improving health."

Ann Hamilton was engaged by Landmarks in a series of residencies to create portraits of community members. At twelve locations, she photographed volunteers through a semi-transparent membrane that registers in focus only what immediately touches its surface while rendering more softly the gesture or outline of the body. The more than 500 participants included caregivers, faculty, students, staff, community partners, civic leaders, and patients.

Among many expressions of Hamilton’s project, 25 portraits have been selected to become full-scale enamel panels to be permanently installed at public thresholds in the Dell Medical School’s Health Discovery and Health Learning Buildings. Forty smaller panels featured in the VAC exhibition will be relocated to additional spaces within the medical school complex following the exhibition. Hamilton’s photographic library of approximately 21,000 images may be used in future buildings of the Dell Medical School as well as in other graphic applications, including a book that contains images of each participant. Ten thousand copies will be given to the public, and portraits will be available to download online, both for free.

The VAC exhibition, curated by Landmarks, runs January 27 through February 24. It contains enamel portrait panels, concordance text, books, and process information. Moreover, authors from a range of disciplines were selected by Hamilton to contribute interpretive texts that will be printed as a newspaper available in the exhibition and to participants in workshops, lectures, and public events. Writers include Laurel Braitman, Matthew Goulish, Kris Paulsen, Nancy Princenthal, Brian Rotman, Natalie Shapiro, and Katie Stewart.