simple site templates



OPERANT
(An Oldowonk Cataract)

An installation by Karl Unnasch created upon the shell of a dump truck
and incorporating backlit stained glass and 'tchonk' glass
for an international exhibit on the Rose Kennedy Greenway
in Boston, Massachusetts

- 2019 -

Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract)



A Tribute to Laborers Everywhere

Drawing upon Unnasch's personal awed memories of Boston's "Big Dig" — the immensity of which he navigated often during his grad school years at UMass Dartmouth in the early 2000s — Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract) was conceived as a commemoration. 

In the massive, infamous "Big Dig" project, downtown Boston's historic elevated highway was demolished and rerouted into a tunnel under the city, creating space for the new mile-long Rose Kennedy Greenway park that now runs through the heart of the urban expanse.  

It was on this site that Operant was exhibited, in 2019, in the context of an international art show for which it was commissioned. Created upon the shell of a red dump truck, the work was mounted with backlit stained glass panels and a cascade of glowing “tchonk” glass.

Thematically, Operant explored concepts influencing the "built" environment in its glasswork, while acknowledging and celebrating the construction workers and laborers not only of the Big Dig, but also "those who help build our beautiful cities, bridges and park systems everywhere".




Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract)



A Word from the Artist: 

Backlit stained glass panels installed in the cab windows and along the sides of the dump box contain imagery suggestive of the continuum of concepts influencing the human-built environment.

The foundations for problem-solving are innate; hence, the panels depict various forms of Nature's approach to 'building' and 'making'. Yet, subtly threaded throughout the imagery, whispers of heuristics and artificial intelligence hint at the contemporary end of the spectrum.

Finally, a cascade of backlit 'tchonk' glass – reminiscent of flinty, primordial tools – has the appearance of being dumped out from the back of the truck, eliciting the possibilities of design and construction.





Foreground photo: Pilot Mound Design
Background photo: Anthony Crisafulli

Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract): Passenger side panel




“Operant is a work that showcases Unnasch's mastery of stained glass construction and evocative folkloric narratives, fusing glass with the hardness and roughness of construction machinery".

— Lucas Cowan, 
         Public Art Curator 






Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract): Passenger side panel




“ [...] amazing stained glass public art."

— Amy Moritz, 
         Stained Glass Association of America 






Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract): Passenger side panel




“ [...] extensive stained glass expertise [...] other-worldly results".

— Gabriela Iacovano, 
         Urban Glass: Glass Quarterly Magazine  






Ruminant:

Honors:  

★ Honored with extensive mentions in middle school art textbook of RUMINANT, RUSTICIAN AND OPERANT: Experience Art for Grades 7-8, by Marilyn G. Stewart, 2022, Davis Publications, Inc., Worcester, MA ★ 



Boston Greenway



THE SHOW

Curated by the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, The Auto Show in 2019 consisted of both loaned and commissioned artworks that explored the automobile and the imaginative qualities of construction and movement in transportation. In addition to Unnasch's work, it also included names like Erwin Wurm, Chris Labrooy and Julie Libersat.



THE SITE:  BOSTON'S ROSE KENNEDY GREENWAY

The Greenway is the contemporary public park in the heart of Boston. The Greenway welcomes millions of visitors annually to gather, play, unwind, and explore.

The Greenway Conservancy is the non-profit responsible for the management and care of The Greenway. The majority of the public park's annual budget is generously provided by private sources.






Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract)

Articles & Press:  

· Experience Art middle school art textbook for Grades 7-8, by Marilyn G. Stewart, 2022, Davis Publications, Inc., Worcester, MA

· Less Arc, More Contact: Karl Unnasch, Podcast Interview for High Visibility with Matthew Fluharty (section on Operant beginning around minute 7:00), February 2021 

· Karl Unnasch's latest public-art project in Boston uses his extensive stained-glass expertise to illuminate discarded machinery, Gabriela Iacovano, Urban Glass: Glass Quarterly Magazine, June 26, 2019

· Stained Glass Dump Truck Showcased in Boston Installation, Construction Equipment Magazine, June 17, 2019

· A Midwestern Ruralist: From log cabins to dump trucks, Karl Unnasch takes his Midwestern sensibilities and creates amazing stained glass public art, Amy Moritz, Stained Glass: The Quarterly Magazine of the Stained Glass Association of America, Cover Story, Summer 2019

· Seen and Heard: Metal artist Unnasch has a light touch, Colleen Timimi, Rochester Post-Bulletin, June 28, 2019

· 7 Public Art Installations To Check Out In Boston This Summer, Dana Forsythe, WBUR: The ARTery, June 7, 2019

· Dump truck doubles as public art in new downtown Boston exhibit, Marcia Gruver Doyle, Equipment World Magazine, June 14, 2019

· Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway public art this summer will focus on transportation... and the Big Dig that birthed the linear park in the first place, Tom Acitelli, Curbed Boston, April 26, 2019



Press Releases:

Artist Karl Unnasch Installs a Worker’s Ode on Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway (June 9, 2019)

Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy's Press Release Regarding "The Auto Show" (April 25, 2019)



Foreground photo: Anthony Crisafulli 
Background photo: Pilot Mound Design


Operant (An Oldowonk Cataract) -- Elephant Panel



Special thanks go out to: 


· Lucas Cowan, Sheila Novak, and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy 
· Bill and Judy Rockwood 
· Cy Guy's Auto Repair
· GP Truck Painting
· Manahan Machine Shop
· Hammell Equipment Rushford
· Steve Erickson
· Sam Spiczka 
· Jeff Cooper
· Michael Cimino 
· Kris Douglas
· Kurt Chiabachi
· Mark Kuykendall
· Laurie Kottke
· Henryetta Glassman
· Justin Dade & DigiCOPY La Crosse
· Karen and Andy Heimdahl
· Kris Hanson
· Sqvibl & Lil Boi