The acrylic, enamel and aluminum work was originally mounted on the exterior of the CLS in 2004. It was removed and placed in storage in 2007 due to an expansion of the building. Bornstein believes the artwork's new placement is "a great improvement on the initial location" because it is still close to the CLS but people are able to get much closer to the art piece itself.
The work was designed so that its appearance would change in response to daily shifts in sunlight and shadow, as well as seasonal variations. Its six massive aluminum panels, each five feet wide and 10 feet high, are painted in a progression of colours from blue-green to yellow, resembling an unfolding sequence of colour.
Bornstein said he was originally inspired to create the piece, which took three years to make, because "the idea of what the synchrotron was and what they were doing fascinated me."
The CLS generates light that allows scientists to study minute structures in nature. The sequence of coloured panels in Bornstein's work uses the lightest part of the colour spectrum and suggests the molecular phenomenon of light and colour, "celebrating the function of the synchrotron," he said. "The piece was meant to identify and focus attention to the location and activity of the synchrotron on our campus."
Bornstein, one of Canada's first abstract artists, is renowned for his pioneering work with light and colour. His three-dimensional works, which he terms structurist reliefs, have been exhibited internationally.
Bornstein artwork reinstalled outside CLS on U of S campus
A major abstract work – hexaplane structurist relief No. 3, 2001-2003 – by noted international artist and University of Saskatchewan professor emeritus Eli Bornstein has been reinstalled outside of the Canadian Light Source (CLS).