U.S. General Services Administration
Art in Architecture: Shortest Distance | Cris Bruch
by Cynthia Henry
GSA commissioned Cris Bruch to create “Shortest Distance” (2006) for the Wayne Lyman Morse U.S. Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon.
Cris Bruch’s “Shortest Distance”—with its satin-finished stainless-steel surface—reflects the shifting light and color of the surrounding area. The sculpture has a human scale that contrasts with the grand size of the building, while its placement and intriguing form encourage passers-by to stop and explore the artwork.
The sculpture’s appearance changes as viewers move around it—tightly compressed from one perspective, then unfolding gracefully from another. The artwork’s faceted surfaces shift continuously, with the outside reversing to the inside, and the front becoming the back.
Bruch’s interest in turbulence and flow prompted his initial concept for the sculpture. Frictions and stresses cause eddies, vortexes, counter-movements, reversals of direction, and whirls within whirls—all suitable metaphors, in the artist’s view, for how human institutions, such as the courts, develop in a democracy. Progress often appears to occur in a straight line, when all of the diversions and regressions have been edited out, leaving only the clarity of moving from one point to the next. Bruch’s sculpture suggests that the path is not always so direct.
About the Artist
Cris Bruch is a sculptor who integrates a formal aesthetic—characterized by the use of non-traditional materials and repetitive processes—with his interest in social, philosophical, and conceptual concerns. He is especially interested in time, turbulence, and curvature.
Bruch was born and raised in Missouri. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (1980) in ceramics and sculpture at the University of Kansas-Lawrence. He earned a Master of Arts in video (1985) and a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture (1986) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He moved to Seattle in 1986, where he has lived since.
Bruch’s work has been exhibited at the Flottmann-Hallen in Herne, Germany; Galerie Ute Parduhn, Dusseldorf, Germany; the Boise Art Museum in Idaho; the Salt Lake Art Center in Utah; the Portland Art Museum in Oregon; and the Frye Art Museum in Seattle.
Throughout the year, we will highlight the artists and artworks in Region 10’s federal and leased spaces as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of GSA’s Art in Architecture program.
- Art in Architecture: Shortest Distance | Cris Bruch
- Art in Architecture: Freedom | Philip McCracken
- Art in Architecture: Louie Louie | Tim Bavington
- Art in Architecture: Quiltroad | Sung-Ho Choi
- Art in Architecture: Grass is Greener | Tad Savinar
- Art in Architecture: Passage | Maxine Martell
- Art in Architecture: Arctic Amphibian | Gerald Conaway
- GSA Celebrates 50 Years of the Art in Architecture Program