Daily Business Report-March 28, 2016
‘Fallen Star’ was built during the fall of 2011, and on Nov. 15, was gently hoisted 100 feet and attached to Jacobs Hall. (Photo by Erik Jepsen/UC San Diego Publications)
Film Documents Amazing ‘Fallen Star’
Sculpture Atop UCSD’s Jacob Hall
Ever since the fall of 2011, students and visitors at the University of California, San Diego have marveled at the sight of a house tottering on the edge of a seven-story building on campus, looking like it might fall at any moment.
But it’s an illusion created by artist Do Ho Suh, a sculpture artist whose works are part of museum collections around the world.
On Thursday, April 5, the campus and local community are invited to attend the free premiere of “Fallen Star: Finding Home,” a 50-minute film by Do Ho Suh. The documentary tells the behind-the-scenes story of the planning, engineering and installation of “Fallen Star,” which became the 18th addition to the campus’s Stuart Collection — an ongoing program of commissioned, site-specific sculptures — in 2012.
Two public screenings will be held at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. at Atkinson Auditorium at Calit2 on the UC San Diego campus. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. The artist will be present for the premiere of the film, which was directed by Vera Brunner-Sung and Valerie Stadler. The documentary will shed light on why so many people supported such an improbable idea, and how the unique project came to fruition.
At 15 by 18 feet, the “Fallen Star” structure is a three-quarter-sized version of a small house based on architectural styles seen in Providence, R.I. Built during the fall of 2011, it was gently hoisted 100 feet in the air and permanently attached to Jacobs Hall at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.
The sculpture consists of the house — cantilevered at an angle from the corner of the building and integrated with a structural concrete slab — and a rooftop garden. An engineering feat, the house is built to withstand 100-mph winds and boasts an 18-inch-thick foundation.
When Suh first proposed the ambitious project to UC San Diego’s Stuart Collection, he “never thought it would be realized.” Today, the work has become a beloved landmark at the university. It is hard to miss — it can be seen from multiple vantage points on campus and off.
“Fallen Star” is open to the public on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors are invited to explore the vertigo-inducing interior space, which is intended to prompt thoughts about displacement and the notion of “home.” For more information about the collection or the film premiere, visit stuartcollection or call (858) 534-2117.
Do Huh Suh was born in Korea and attended Seoul National University before going on to earn a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. Today he lives and works in New York, London and Seoul. His works are part of museum collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; the Tate Modern, London, UK, Artsonje Center, Seoul, Korea; and the Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan. Currently he has a solo exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
City Council Panel Recommends
Citizens’ Review Board Reforms
The San Diego City Council Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee unanimously approved a charter amendment put forward by Councilman Todd Gloria to reform the Citizens’ Review Board on Police Practices. The oversight board is made up of volunteers that review allegations of police misconduct.
The committee’s reforms would do the following:
• Expand regulatory power over the board in the charter to include the City Council in addition to the mayor, who currently has exclusive authority over the board.
• Explicitly state in the charter that the board shall review all cases involving deaths that occur in police custody and officer related shootings.
• Change the name of the board to the Community Review Board on Police Practices.
• Recommend the mayor’s office extend terms of members from one year to two years
• Recommend the mayor’s office develop a process to expand the types of cases that the board can review.
• Recommend the mayor’s office include funding for independent counsel to provide additional advisory capacity to the board and city attorney.
The charter amendment proposal will go to the Charter Review Committee for consideration. The full City Council may place it on the ballot for voters to decide this November.
