"Double Helix: Flowing Balance" by Jon Barlow Hudson

Jon Barlow Hudson has designed, created and installed a sculpture entitled "Double Helix: Flowing Balance" in the area outside the new Matthew O. Diggs III Laboratory for Life Science Research.

The double helix design is an abstracted reference to the highly important DNA molecular structure. It is a critical discovery and its form is inherently universal both in its meaning and in its reference to nature and to fluid dynamics, which is so all-important in both living and non-living systems throughout nature on all levels. Jon Barlow Hudson has researched the subject of bio-sciences and read about them and the history thereof; of how they have developed to the point where they are today. The double helix has a unique and universal, possibly even archetypal, fascination and symbolic energy.

Jon Barlow Hudson chose the dodecahedron with which to construct the helix because of his interest in geometric forms and appreciation of the Platonic solids. Jon Barlow Hudson was able to create his own interpretation of the helical dynamic in such a way that it would function within the given parameters of the project site.

The sculpture is fabricated in stainless steel with a sanded/burnished surface to reflect light. The vertices are one foot. The sculpture is tall enough to walk through and sit on – approximately 9 feet tall, 9 feet wide by 22 feet long.