Floating World

Artist / Maker Ralph Helmick ((American, b. 1952))

Date2014

MediumPowder coated steel, terrazzo, bronze.

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineIowa Art in State Buildings for the Biorenewables Complex. Commissioned by the University Museums and the Departments of the Biorenewables Complex. In the Art on Campus Collection, University Museums, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Object numberU2014.41a-dd

Status

On view

Collections

CultureAmerican

Label TextFrom the University Museums Collections Handbook, vol. 2, 2025: Spanning the large atrium of Elings Hall, Floating World depicts an evolving agricultural industry through research performed at Iowa State University. Suspended from the ceiling, layers of verdant green powder coated steel viewed from one direction illustrate the progression of agricultural methods, as well as energy use over time. Shown in silhouette, ISU’s campus buildings are at the top, followed by depictions of farms throughout history. Tractors and silos progress with technology throughout the scenes, and windmills, electrical lines, and finally wind turbines dot the horizon. All of these landscapes emerge from an outline of the state of Iowa, cut through with the outlines of the state’s rivers coursing through the landscape. In the floor below, terrazzo designs lead the viewer into the atrium towards labs and classrooms within the building. Beginning with a view of North America, each round terrazzo installation features a bronze dot locating the viewer “here.” The terrazzo circles continue to zoom in - to Iowa, campus, Elings Hall, and finally to as small as a carbon atom. As the viewer then looks back up, observing the work of art above from a new angle, the floating panels are seen from a fresh perspective. The silhouettes are still present but with new clarity, and there is a focus on wetlands with a cattail, dragonfly, and Red-winged Blackbird in the foreground. The focus on waterways and their influence on Iowa agriculture is present throughout the work of art, and the innovations in technology discovered because of the research at Iowa State is on full display in this public installation.

Locations