Cuprum / Cyprium / Cipres is an interactive haptic object permanently installed in a research lab. Three copper medallions: a satellite mesh, handprint, and undersea cable, each link ancient material, linguistic, and technological lineages. Participants are invited to leave handprints, physically joining the cumulative heritage of research, connection, and knowledge transmission across generations.
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DATE: 2019
MATERIALS: cypress, copper, powdered malachite
SCALE: architectural sculpture
DIMENSIONS: 48”x48’”x4”
SITE: an undisclosed research center
STATUS: complete
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from the wall text
In an age where we’re realizing the networked nature of everything, connection becomes a primary force in advancing traditional knowledge as well as fostering ideal environments for emergent forms of knowledge to develop.
Copper derives its name from the Latin cuprum, itself a derivation of the earlier Latin aes cyprium, or metal of Cyprus. Cypress derives from the old French cipres, and old French itself is a derivative form of early Latin. The material connections between copper and cypress emerge from a semantic relationship in a forgotten history of language.
The leftmost medallion is a digital rendering of the mesh network of geosynchronous orbiting satellites that connect communications, navigation, and networks together above the earth, while the rightmost medallion is a cross-section of the undersea cables that carry the internet across the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to Europe.
Perhaps the copper is a circle of orbiting bodies revolving around a center. Perhaps it is a series of concentric ripples emanating from a central touchpoint. Either way, connections are made, information is transferred, knowledge is formed.
The development of knowledge ripples outward from a long lineage of connected researchers. You connect with this heritage by joining in the collective task of research. Make your mark by placing your hand in the center copper medallion to leave a handprint. Over the course of time as researchers move through this institution, and this institution circles through the broader galaxies of science, technology, engineering, and math, your handprint connects you into the heritage of past researchers and places you in the lineage of future researchers.
Collectively, our handprints darken the copper disc in the same cumulative way that knowledge builds throughout time. Place your hand on the disc now to contribute to this material anchor of the lineage of knowledge.