German-born and internationally renowned artist Caspar Henselmann donated an abstract sculpture to MSU that was installed on the southwest corner of the Biomedical and Physical Sciences Building on Tuesday.
The sculpture, titled "BP 87," is made of steel and cement. It is characteristic of Henselmann's architectural-themed and science-inspired work that is usually made from wood, steel or concrete.
"'BP 87' is a numerical lettering device to keep track of my work, and since it was 'BP' I called it bobby pin — it has nothing to do with the content," Henselmann said. "(The sculpture) has to do with shifts, which have to do with tectonic plates that shift underneath the earth, and with the dichotomy of perception with what you know and what you see.
"Like when you look around you, the world looks flat. But you know it's round and you know there's ellipses. And it also has to do with shifts in thought."
Henselmann's family emigrated to Switzerland from Germany, and his father began an art school there. Later they moved to the United States and settled in Chicago.
"I always had the urge to express ideas, and (art) was the path I could use to do it," Henselmann said. "As a kid, you draw and people pat you on the back and say 'Hey, you're really good, you should be an artist.' After a while you start believing it. But it is also a curiosity — artists are curious."
In 1962, Henselmann won a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation sculpture award and a Ford Foundation artist-in-residency three years later. He now lives in New York City, but his work can be seen internationally.
The Public Art on Campus Committee helped place "BP 87" on MSU's campus, and they will also help place another sculpture Henselmann donated, titled "US1-9," that will be installed by Erickson Hall hopefully by next winter.
A terrace will be made on the north side of the hall, which is where "US1-9" will most likely be placed, said Jeff Kacos, director of Campus Planning and Administration and chairperson of the Public Art on Campus Committee.
"That the artist is generous enough to donate them just makes it all the more exciting for us," Kacos said. "We may not have been able to afford them otherwise."
Henselmann donated these sculptures to MSU partly because he is friends with the Kresge Art Museum curator, April Kingsley, who has always been supportive of his work.
"I like the combination of architecture and its abstraction," Kingsley said of her friend's work. "Some of it is very borderline to see the art because of the material he uses. It's challenging art, I think."
