Leo Villareal might be accurately described as an artist, a sculptor, a software engineer and an architect. For him, the art comes first.
“I studied sculpture as an undergraduate, then got into technology in the early ’90s and went to grad school at NYU,” he says. “That allowed me to synthesize technology and art, and now the technology is a tool I use to make art.
“But I’d rather just be (described as) an artist, not a new media artist. The tools are just a means to an end. My work is about ideas.”
The idea behind “Buckyball,” Villareal’s 30-foot lighted sculpture that goes on show Thursday at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, is two geometric spheres, one encased in the other, that take the shape of a Carbon 60 molecule. The structure is covered in LED tubes that display different colored lights based on computer software, which Villareal programmed.
“It was interesting to take that form and create a monument to it,” he muses. “To expand something not seen by the naked eye.”
But “what’s compelling about the piece is that it feels very much alive. It has a real personality,” he adds. “It’s interesting one could say that about geometry.”
And although it is based on science, “it’s also abstract,” Villareal says. In the 16 million distinct colors and the everchanging sequences, “no one will ever see anything they know.”
“Buckyball,” named in honor of R. Buckminster Fuller’s signature inventionof the geodesic dome, was commissioned by Madison Square Park Conservancy and was on show for four months in Madison Square Park at the corner of 23rd Street and Broadway in New York City.
“From its first day in Madison Square Park, ‘Buckyball’ transformed the way our audience experienced the Flatiron neighborhood and our historic landscape,” says Debbie Landau, president of Madison Square Park Conservancy. “The work instantly became a community hub, a gathering place for excitement, reflection and contemplation. Adding to and complementing the iconic architecture that surrounded it, ‘Buckyball’ was an instant New York City landmark.”
“When it left, people were beside themselves,” Villareal says with a hint of pride in his voice. “It was amazing the affinity they built up about it.”
Villareal didn’t really get excited about art himself until he left his childhood homes in Texas and Mexico to go to boarding school at the age of 16. Suddenly, he was exposed to some of the finest art in the world at museums in Boston and New York - and he stilldidn’t intend to become an artist.
“I guess I thought I’d be an art history major in college,” he remembers. But a class on installation-style sculpture changed his mind. Still, he says, “if somebody had shownme then what I’m making now, I would have been very surprised!”
On the other hand, Villareal’s passion for tinkering and taking things apart might have been an early sign of his artistic destiny - that and his first Applecomputer when he was 13.
“It got me thinking about all these new tools,” he recalls. “But it took awhile for computers to evolve into something I could use.”
Although a computer is integral to the process, any site-specific project starts with “considering what is possible,” Villareal says. After due consideration, visualization and a series of proposals, a team of engineers, architects and programmers gets involved to make Villareal’s vision a reality. “Then at the end, I come back and program the pieces,” he says. “That’s the essence of what the art is.”
Making art the way he does requires “a lot of commitment to support the work,” he says, “to make sure it’s operating correctly for the long run. I have a great team that helps me do these things and brings a lot of joy and excitement to a lot of people.”
Yes, he admits, “sometimes I wish I made small watercolors you didn’t have to plug in. But this is something I’m really passionate about.”
And yes, Villareal knows his work is short-lived when compared with “The Pieta” or the Sphinx.
“I like making things that are ephemeral, not permanent,” he says. “It’s all about enjoying the moment. My work has the quality of being almost like a digital campfire, something you can gather around and spend time with. It creates community.”
Besides, he adds, today’s “very durable technology” means a piece like “Buckyball” can last up to 100,000 hours, which is more than 11 ½ years, and “future light technologies will have even more permanence, so a piece can live on - and I’m very committed to that.”
Whats Up, Pages 15 on 04/26/2013