A multi-pronged public art work by Ann Hamilton commissioned by the University of Texas’ Landmarks public art program, netted the 2018 Year in Review award from the Americans for the Arts’ Public Art Network.
Commissioned for the Dell Medical School and debuted in 2017, “O N E E V E R Y O N E” It is rooted in the primacy of touch and intimacy as the most essential expression of physical care.
The project began as a campaign to photograph members of the Austin community and expanded to assume multiple forms: 71 porcelain enamel portrait panels located at the Dell Medical School; a 900-page book designed by Hamilton that circulates freely; a newspaper with contributions by scientists, philosophers, poets, and essayists; and a website for the public to download her images.
The Ohio-based Hamilton photographed more than 500 participants at a dozen Austin locations for the project. Volunteers were photographed through a semi-transparent membrane that sharply focused parts of the body that made contact with the material and softly blurred the parts that moved away from it. The optical quality of the material renders touch — something felt, more than seen — visible.
