Artwork Detail

The lobby of the Olive View Mental Health Urgent Care Center at the Olive View - UCLA Medical Center is separated into an adult and a youth area by means of an artwork by Ball-Nogues Studio. This artwork consists of a floor-to-ceiling partition wall made up of fused glass panels perpendicular to windows leading onto the lobby's entry courtyard. For this lobby, which serves families under duress, the artists reflected on the way spaces with colored glass windows are associated with uplifting feelings- the glass panels will glow a soothing blue as they are illuminated by the outside light. The artwork depicts a large olive tree, which serves as a historic reference to the olive orchards giving Olive View its name. The tree also refers symbolically to the great strength and resilience of the Restorative Care Village community. The artists developed custom algorithms to draw the textured bark of the tree and worked closely with the Judson Glass Studios to create complex, layered effects in the glass. "No one looks at an olive tree and asks why it hides it fruits. It blossoms when its ready and under the right conditions." - Sadiqua Hamdan

Ball-Nogues Studio (established 2004) is an integrated design and fabrication practice operating in a territory between architecture, art and industrial design led by Benjamin Ball and Gaston Nogues. Their work is informed by the exploration of craft. Essential to each project is the "design" of the production process itself, with the aim of creating environments that enhance sensation, generate spectacle and invite physical engagement. The Studio has exhibited at major institutions, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Guggenheim Museum; PS1; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; the Venice Biennale; the Hong Kong | Shenzhen Biennale; and the Beijing Biennale. For more information visit: https://www.ball-nogues.com/