Rice University

Table of Contents

Locations

  1. Art & Performance

    1. Public Art

      1. Radiant Pathway, 2010

        Radiant Pathway

        Leo Villareal 

        92 light tubes with pixels

        BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) Cafe

        Capital Building Fund Site-Specific Commission


        Villareal’s radial arrangement of light tubes at the BRC functions as a type of dynamic map or diagram as colors move across its array. The work explores the compulsion to recognize patterns and the brain’s hard coded desire to understand and make meaning. Its patterns take inspiration from the research of mathematician John Conway who invented the Game of Life, the best-known cellular automata program. The installation animates the cafe and building, and it serves as an iconic, signature form for both the university and the community at large. Light radiating in and out from the center mirrors the function of the university as a gathering place for knowledge that is then released back into the larger community. The 92 LED light tubes each have 20 pixels capable of displaying 16 million different colors. The changing light sequences are never repeated, and Villareal composed them in situ using custom computer software technology.