Maya Lin's artistic process and the Fractal Tree in Austin

Maya Lin

How does hearing the artist speak change your understanding and appreciation of her work? It seems that Maya Lin never talks just to be talking, or filling up space, or trying to give a listener what he or she wants to hear. Her voice is soft, steady, and she is obviously very self-assured in her measured tones. Hearing her in the video did not change my understanding or appreciation for her work, but it added substance to what I already believed.

I remember when she was awarded the contract to do the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C.; notwithstanding all the positive publicity she received, and all the interviews and articles about her, she was calm, collected, comfortable being a person who seemingly came out of nowhere to produce a work that has been praised by millions of Americans. In other words, she didn't change because of all the accolades and all the glory.

In her video she talks about ideas that come to her before she begins a project. It reminded me of a professor I had who said, everything we do is a reflection of everyone we have ever known personally, and of every important moment in our lives. She said, "Art is wonderful because everything you've ever known, and everything you've ever done, somehow percolating up, working with ideas you might want to explore, and then you wake up one morning and know what you want to do."

Well that might sound easy for Lin, but it takes a very committed and creative person to be able to just wake up refreshed after sleep and know exactly what project you will be working on next. For most artists, musicians, sculptors, songwriters, poets and novelists, I am sure that for the average person, ideas do sometimes just "percolate" up and lead the person to a new creative idea, or to a solution to an ongoing problem. But it makes me wonder: what could Maya Lin, or other creative people, do, to give ordinary but very intelligent people that spark of an idea that can lead to something extraordinary? That's clearly not her job, to help others be as creative as she is, but short of that, listening to her and carefully examining her work can be a starting point for fresh new ideas for all of us, or at least, solutions to problems.

Question TWO: Describe a large outdoor public sculpture: The "Fractal Tree" in downtown Austin, Texas, is an extraordinary and stunning work of art in a city known more for its music than its artistic presentations. Created by Paul Sorey, the 25-foot silver "tree" is made of stainless steel and is offers pedestrians a breath of fresh air on a busy city street. As far as elements of art, each of the Fractal Tree's branches are mathematically identical to other parts; the tree has two main branches and they are artistically balanced as both sides reach to the sky in a perfect "V" configuration.

The Fractal Tree was installed two years ago in front of the headquarters of Cirrus Logic, Inc., and Cirrus Logic paid for the work to be installed.

As to principals of design, the Fractal Tree uses symbolism (branches seeming reaching out to the universe with hands or fingers at the end of each branch) and it is an inspired use of space using a psychology that is both subtle and striking. People drive by and walk by and many don't notice the Fractal Tree, which apparently was the artist's intent. At a distance it could a tree that has shed its branches in winter.