Camarillo, Calif., April 16, 2008—A sculpture by California State University Channel Islands Professor Matthew Furmanski has been installed at Promenade Park near Surfer’s Point in Ventura. The sculpture will remain in place throughout the summer months.
“Crossroads Oracle (A Lantern for Diogenes)” by Furmanski is a temporary, interactive sculpture that attracts responses from curious passersby. Push one of the four “crosswalk” buttons on this ten-foot “light post” supporting two masts of siren-shaped reflectors and one of the speakers inside the assemblage will ask the first in a series of provocative questions. “What do you dream about?” it asked one young boy recently, who answered “Dragons.” “Is that all you dream about?” his mother asked him. “Pretty much” he replied. The sculpture’s subtitle alludes to the famous anecdote about the ancient Greek social critic and philosopher Diogenes wandering homeless through Athens in broad daylight carrying a lit lantern futilely “looking for an honest man.”
Originally commissioned for Off Axis—a temporary public art project on State Street in Santa Barbara—Furmanski’s sculpture aims to challenge the public to participate in the work by answering its philosophic queries even as it questions the entire concept of humans asking a mechanism to give us direction.
Furmanski is an Assistant Professor of Art at CSUCI, and is internationally known for his conceptual sculpture that he calls “an imploded movie prop, or prop in reverse” whose visual language explores “relationships with mundane objects, ideas of transcending time and space, to social issues, to information and transportation issues.” His works combine “physicality” with “the intensity of an idea to create a catalyst” for “imaginative leaps in the minds of those who encounter them.”
For more information about this exhibit contact Denise Sindelar, Public and Visual Art Supervisor for Ventura, 805-658-4793 or dsindelar@cityofventura.net.
For media inquiries about Furmanski contact Ceal Potts, Communication Specialist at CSUCI, 805-437-8940 or cecilia.potts@csuci.edu.
# # #
About California State University Channel Islands
CSU Channel Islands(CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI’s strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master’s degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more by visiting CI's Social Media.