‘Disco’ spins on Holmgren Meadow on Northeastern’s Oakland campus. Part of a global series, it blends smooth and intricate textures.
Title: “Disco” (1986)
Artist: Arnaldo Pomodoro (1926-)
Materials: Bronze (sculpture)
Size: 86” x 11”
Location: Oakland campus, Holmgren Meadow, near Rothwell Center.
About: Italian for “disc,” Disco is one in a series of large kinetic bronze sculptures made by Arnaldo Pomodoro, who taught in the art department at Mills College from 1978 to 1982.
Disco sits at the northern edge of Holmgren Meadow at the heart of the Oakland campus and rotates slowly on its axis. It is one in a series of grand discos the sculptor made. Others are located in Chicago, Milan and Dublin.
Trained as an architect, Pomodoro became known in the 1960s for his geometric pieces — spheres, cones, discs and columns — that are torn and corroded. Oakland’s “Disco” is smooth in sections and intricately engraved in others, so that some surfaces reflect the green grass of the meadow.
In 1966, Pomodoro was commissioned to create a sphere nearly 12 feet in diameter for the 1967 Montreal Expo. This became the first of many of Pomodoro’s works, like “Disco,” that found homes outdoors.