About the Art
(M)Body was part of a suite of three interactive artworks designed by Bill and Mary Buchen to be installed around the Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC). Percussion Celebration sits north of the RPAC toward Ohio Stadium. Spherical Trajectory was located on the fields to the west of McCorkle Aquatics Pavilion but was decommissioned in 2024. The three works were honored by Americans for the Arts as among the best public artworks completed nationally in 2007.
(M)Body was designed as a series of six concrete benches of varying sizes. Each bench takes a different rounded form; some are rounder and others narrower; some have oversized backs and others have no back at all. Each heavy concrete bench has a body form cast into it, catching a dynamic pose of movement or stretching frozen in time. These impressions were made by university students at the time. The artwork, inspired by the activities that take place inside the RPAC and ancient traditions of sports and meditation, explores movement, balance, and equilibrium while also being grounded to the earth.
Collection of The Ohio State University. Funded through the Ohio Percent for Art program.
Material
Concrete
Location
Outside of the Physical Activity and Education Services building (PAES)
About the Artist
New York City-based Bill and Mary Buchen are a husband-and-wife team who began designing interactive installations, often with sound, for public and private sites in 1982. They’ve created sound parks and sonic playgrounds, as well as other large-scale public installations. They are interested in the interplay of the environment around us with science, architecture, ecology and cultures from around the world. Mary is also a master gardener, and Bill is a professional percussionist and composer. This musical inspiration is seen in works like Percussion Celebration.
