Ned Smyth
Our Shadow, 1994

Overview of work.

LOCATION:
University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
Knight Oceanographic Research Center

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Our Shadow was created by Ned Smyth to reflect elements of research being conducted by the USF Knight Oceanographic Research Center during the time frame of the commission. The subject of the Venetian tile mosaic is, Idiacanthus Fasciola (Black Dragonfish). This odd creature lives at a depth of one mile in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. A photograph of this fish taken by one of the research scientists at the USF Knight Oceanographic Research Center served as the point of departure for Smyth’s mosaic.

The Sea Bed, which functions as a bench in the lobby of the Knight Oceanographic Research Center, along with the tornado-shaped Sea Columns are carved from Florida Keystone. Both the columns and the bench directly reference, through the use of Keystone, the history of marine life indigenous to the coastal waters of Florida, while the mural of the Black Dragonfish alludes to the mysteries of the ocean’s depths; the crucible of our lives.

Close-up of Sea Bed and mosaic.

Our Shadow made possible by Florida's Art in State Buildings Program