Noesis

NOESIS

Merck & Company, Rahway, NJ
2002

Dimensions:
Ring with Egg: 21 feet high
Rings in trees: 18 inches in diameter
Overall dimensions variable

Materials:
Stainless steel, marble and gold

A large, incomplete ring is balanced precipitously upright. Almost complete, the ring nevertheless misses a vital section. The circle creates an aperture through which one sees the Merck & Company laboratory building beyond. The ring is indicative of the imagination, the form of thought and understanding made almost whole, yet precarious and incomplete. The ring suggests the question; can we ever know all?

Balanced upon the ring’s apex, a marble egg suggests potentiality: what is yet to come, that which is undiscovered and unrevealed.

Below rests a gilt link, the final missing piece of the ring, possessing a tangible sense of potential. The arc invites the viewer to consider lifting the poised section to complete the circle, as one might endeavor to retain the totality of potential knowledge.

Above in the high branches of the surrounding trees, numerous golden rings shine in the sunlight, echoing the larger form below. Appearing to have grown with the trees, the bands suggest that the trees are complete, while the large incomplete ring below, associated with human contemplation, is still not fully formed.

Noesis invites the viewer to consider the inter-relationship between humanity and the natural world.