Tobi Kahn
YYRA, 2002
Cast bronze
Museum Purchase by exchange of the Gift of Dr. Morris Yarosh
Tobi Kahn uses simple, abstract forms to communicate complex ideas, often regarding spirituality. In YYRA, Kahn responded specifically to the WSU campus; the work was commissioned by the University in 2001. In a clean, vertical form, the artist conveys the mission of education and references the history of the Wichita area. The elongated oval represents the flame of knowledge, to Kahn. In addition to the educational mission of spreading this flame, the form may refer to the myth of Prometheus, the trickster god who gave man fire, thus enabling progress and civilization.
Kahn also intended the flame to have additional allusions to the indigenous peoples of Kansas and the pioneers who settled in the region; it is the fire of hearth and home, as well as the beacon of knowledge. To Wichita natives, the sculpture can seem to respond to Blackbear Bosin’s monumental Keeper of the Plains, a symbol of the city lit by fire at night. It is though Kahn has brought a spark from that blaze to campus.