Cosmos, Johnson Museum of Art – Ithaca, New York
Cosmos is a site-specific installation by New York artist Leo Villareal. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and computer-driven imagery bring the underside of the floating upper levels of I.M. Pei’s Johnson Museum to life. Thousands of LED’s are synchronized with one another to create fascinating shapes and patterns. These lights are visible both from campus and from lower in the City of Ithaca below.
Villareal worked with project architect Walter Smith and donors Lisa and Richard Baker, along with staff from the Johnson Museum, to determine the location for the installation. In Spring 2012 a nine-foot-square mock-up was installed. Later that fall the final piece was installed with 12,000 LED’s on a gridded framework attached to the ceiling. A zero gravity bench was designed by Villareal for viewers to fully immerse themselves in the viewing experience. The entire project is an homage to Carl Sagan, astronomer and one-time Ithaca resident whose house was on the opposite side of Fall Creek Gorge from the museum.
