Tomorrow people walking through the middle of campus will hear chainsaws taking down Simple Logic, after a short ceremony saying goodbye to the sculpture.
Built in 2007 by artist Patrick Daugherty — with the help of students and faculty — the wooden sculpture was only supposed to last two years. Professor Anne Harris, chair of the art department, said that especially after the ice storm, Simple Logic has fallen into disrepair and is ready to be taken down.
Harris says that the Physical Plant crew will help take down the sculpture, and its remains will be mulched and used around campus in accordance with Daugherty's wishes.
"We don't know if it's going to just come down, or if it's going to fight us, or drop like a braid," Harris said. "There are foundational pillars, so I'd imagine it's like cutting the sinews or something."
The structure will probably take a few days to disappear completely, and will be roped off from passers-by during and after the ceremony while it is cleared.
While brainstorming Simple Logic's destruction, Harris and others considered burning, but decided it would be unsafe. Harris said that she wants the ceremony to visually and emotionally exciting, and that she's ready to watch the sculpture come down.
"There is a special pleasure that comes from noticing something that has become unremarkable," Harris said. "It's become a part of the landscape of DePauw, and people have stopped noticing it. It will kind of be re-discovery."
