Three-Piece Artwork Installed at TTUHSC Campus

‘Complete Fragment’ welcomes visitors to the new University Center Building

• By Melissa Whitfield
• April 15, 2019

The newest public art installation at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC), “Complete Fragment” by James Surls, encourages visitors to unwind and let go of everyday stresses as they take in the artwork around them.
 
“Complete Fragment” consists of three bronze and stainless steel sculptures ranging in size from eight to 12 feet and will be available for viewing outside the north entrance of the new TTUHSC University Center building. This is the ninth public art piece at the TTUHSC Lubbock campus.
 
According to Surls, each sculpture represents the origin of life through the depiction of molecules, as well as growth as represented by flowers. The three separate pieces come together as one piece. Visitors will be able to stand in the middle of the installation and view the sculpture from any angle.
 

“I decided to cut the body of the sculpture into three separate parts, in essence making three sculptures out of one,” Surls said. “By making three separate components, it gave me a chance to arrange each on its own centered axis and provides a reasonable visual distance between each sculptural component. In this sense, the viewer is not only able to look at the sculpture but is also able to be in the sculpture.
 
“I chose this as a concept because it also allows for the spectator to be able to stand in the center of the site and look out in any and all directions and be fully within the site line of one of the three separate pieces. This gives the viewer a visual choice of having three different pieces to see; making each a complete fragment of the whole.”
 
These sculptures will be a part of a landscaped park space at TTUHSC where visitors can sit and find calm and healing, a respite from the busy life inside the buildings.
 

“James Surls is considered by many to be Texas’ greatest living sculptor and is certainly a world-renowned artist,” Emily Wilkinson, Texas Tech University System Public Art Director, said. “His work is immediately recognizable to those who know it and loved by those discovering it. We are excited to add one of his iconic installations to the TTU System’s Public Art Collection. ‘Complete Fragment’ is a symbol of life, growth and celebration and I can’t think of a better or more fitting sculpture for TTUHSC’s University Center as our medical school is now the largest health science center in the state.”
 
An internationally recognized and collected American artist, Surls earned a Bachelor of Science from Sam Houston State University and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He is best known for large sculptures which are roughly hewn and derive much of their power from a close connection to nature and raw materials.
 

The Public Art Program was initiated by the TTU System Board of Regents in 1998 to enrich the campus environments and extend the educational mission at all of its universities. Since then, more than 100 items created by some of today’s leading artists have been added to the TTU System’s multiple campuses.
 
The University Center building is part of TTUHSC’s $99.375 million project which will create two new buildings and supplement an existing building to increase productivity in academic, professional and research affairs. The University Center will have 62,200 GSF to support institutional initiatives, program growth and academic changes. The building will house state-of-the-art research laboratories, translational research facilities classrooms, offices, new technology and equipment and other infrastructure upgrades.
 
All construction costs are funded by Tuition Revenue Bonds approved by the 84th Texas Legislature.
 
TTUHSC is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Gov. Preston Smith on May 27, 1969, signed House Bill 498 creating the Texas Tech University School of Medicine as a multi-campus institution. At that time professionals and hospitals were scarce: 19 of the counties surrounding Lubbock had no physicians; the area had only one-third of the national physicians-to-patients ratio and 23 of the surrounding counties had no hospital.
 
Today, TTUHSC has graduated more than 28,000 health care professionals. Of those, 24 percent remain in the 108-county service area.