Frank Smullin
Born10 March 1943
Died14 November 1983
NationalityAmerican
Alma materQueens College
Notable work"Fit to be tied", "Untitled" (Boston University)
StyleAnalytic Constructivism

Frank Mayer Smullin (10 March 1943 - 14 November 1983) was an American sculptor known for pioneering computer-aided methods in art and for his large welded tubular sculptures.[1]

Biography

Frank Smullin was born on 10 March 1943 to Ruth Smullin and to MIT electrical engineer Louis Smullin. A native of Cambridge, MA, Smullin graduated from Watertown schools and the Cambridge School of Weston before going on to earn a bachelor's in biology at Harvard University and a Master of Fine Arts at Queens College in 1972.[2][3] He was a Fellow from 1979 to 1980 at MIT's Center for Advanced Visual Studies and Sculpture Space in Utica, New York, which helped enable him to make large-scale works.[1][4]

Smullin married Ruth Ann Spivak and had twin daughters,[3] and went on to teach design and art at Duke University,[2] where his interdisciplinary course "Structures" was co-taught by Smullin together with the zoologist Steve Wainwright and engineer George Pearsall.[5] Smullin passed away following a cerebral aneurism in his studio on 14 November 1983 at the age of 40.[3]

Sculptures

Smullin's art, which he referred to as Analytic Constructivism,[6] includes massive sheet metal sculptures found around university campuses on the East Coast, including Boston University,[4] Columbia University,[7] and MIT. Three pieces are also held at the Smithsonian Institute.[8]

In 1981, Smullin gave a keynote lecture about his tubular sculptures and techniques at a design conference in Nashville, paying particular attention to the granny-knot, which he found to have "an artistically much more interesting, 3-dimensional structure than the functionally preferred, but much flatter square-knot."[9] Smullin had written a computer programme called SCULPT to assist with the vector analysis in his design process, implemented on a Tektronix 4052.[10] He was calculating the elliptic intersections and producing computer-generated outlines of his sculptures which he would color by hand; he would then use a pen-plotter to produce a scale cardboard model, before finally cutting a rolling the final sheet-metal version; his techniques left a lasting influence on computer scientist Carlo Séquin, who was in the audience.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 "Frank Smullin". act.mit.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
  2. 1 2 Duke University; Nicholas School of the Environment (Duke University); Nicholas School of the Environment (Duke University). Marine Laboratory; Duke University. School of Law; Duke University. Divinity School; Duke University. Trinity College of Arts and Sciences; Duke University. School of Engineering; Fuqua School of Business (Duke University); Duke University. Graduate School (1929). Bulletin of Duke University [serial]. Duke University Libraries. Durham, N.C. : The University. {{cite book}}: |last8= has generic name (help)
  3. 1 2 3 "The Boston Globe 21 Nov 1983, page 23". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
  4. 1 2 "BU Public Art Artists » Arts Initiative | Boston University". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
  5. ↑ Wiebe, Eric N. (30 November 1997). "Turning Point". Duke University Alumni Magazine.
  6. ↑ Smullin, Frank (1984). Frank Smullin--sculpture & Drawings: April 1-April 29, 1984, School of Design Gallery, North Carolina State University. Duke University.
  7. ↑ ""Utica Overland" (or "The Pipes"), Frank Smullin (1980)". PUBLIC ART AT QUEENS COLLEGE. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
  8. ↑ "Record Standing Figure Eight, (sculpture) | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution". collections.si.edu. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
  9. 1 2 Séquin, Carlo (2001). "Sculpture design [virtual environments]". Proceedings Seventh International Conference on Virtual Systems and Multimedia. pp. 832–843. doi:10.1109/VSMM.2001.969757. ISBN 0-7695-1402-2. S2CID 60620181.
  10. ↑ "Frank Smullin: Labayrinth of Data List – ACM SIGGRAPH ART SHOW ARCHIVES". digitalartarchive.siggraph.org. Retrieved 2023-08-31.
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