A 185-foot pole by Los Angeles-based artist Mark Bradford, entitled What Hath God Wrought?, will be placed in Revelle College later this summer.
The title of the art piece is in reference to the first official Morse code message in the U.S. transmitted by Samuel Morse on May 24, 1844, which is in turn a reference to the same phrase from the Book of Numbers (Numbers 23:23). Throughout the day, it will blink the phrase in Morse code. In addition to being approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, the pole off of Revelle Plaza is set to be the tallest structure on campus, replacing the Building One at The Village, which stands at 183 feet.
Mary Beebe, the director of the Stuart Art Collection, said that the piece has gone through a fundraising process and is now awaiting installation.
“UCSD has agreed to restore the plaza around the piece, which is why we are waiting to start. We don’t want to create a mess at the site until the university can complete the renovation,” Beebe said. “We want it all to happen together.”
The piece will mark the 20th addition to the Stuart Art Collection, a series of art pieces that have grown since 1982, including the Sun God statue and the “Two Running Violet V Forms,” which students often call “Giraffe Catchers.”
Gabe Schneider is the News Editor at The Triton. You can follow him on Twitter @gabemschneider