Columbus is vibrant, growing and diverse. And those characteristics are reflected in the richness of our local art.
“As We Are” is an exceptional example of how art can be used to reflect our local population and those who visit us.
Conceived by Columbus artist Matthew Mohr and fabricated by Design Communications Ltd. of Boston, this dramatic 14-foot, 3-D universal human head is like nothing else in the world.
Made from ribbons of ultrabright LED screens, “As We Are” contains a photo booth capable of taking 3-D pictures. After visitors have their pictures taken, they step out of the booth to see their portraits depicted as the face of “As We Are.”
“Each portrait is roughly 17 times the size of the person represented,” says Mohr, who is also a professor at the Columbus College of Art and Design. “Eyes are as big as dinner plates. Through magnification, the sculpture recontextualizes each participant and asks all who see their portrait to consider who that person is and the life they lead.”
Placed in the North Atrium of the Greater Columbus Convention Center, “As We Are” is just one of more than 130 stunning works of local art that can be seen throughout the facility. We invite you to experience it for yourself.
“Eyes are as big as dinner plates. Through magnification, the sculpture recontextualizes each participant and asks all who see their portrait to consider who that person is and the life they lead.”
MATTHEW MOHR
MATTHEW MOHR
About Matthew Mohr
A consistent theme throughout Matthew Mohr’s career has been a contemplative approach to art fueled by the potential of technology to communicate conceptually.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised primarily in Hudson, Ohio, Matthew was channeled as a young child into graphic design through a love of drawing and a fascination with mass-production. With an undergraduate degree in Design from Bowling Green State University, Matthew found work in Cleveland as a silk-screen artist, transitioned later into web design, and in 2001 moved to New York City to pursue his MFA in Design & Technology from Parson’s School of Design. His resulting thesis project, a quasi-3D interactive display system entitled “Spatial Narrative” was soon after commercially applied as the focal point of the Samsung flagship store at the newly constructed Time Warner Building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
In 2011, Matthew was selected in a nationwide search to join the faculty of the Columbus College of Art and Design. And after ten years in New York the Mohr’s returned to Ohio to raise their two young daughters. In the summer of 2015, as part of an art initiative incorporated into the expansion and renovation of the Columbus Convention Center, Matthew’s proposal for a large-scale, interactive sculpture was selected. The concept entitled ‘As We Are’ was built in collaboration with DCL of Boston and launched in the Fall of 2017.
Born in Columbus, Ohio, and raised primarily in Hudson, Ohio, Matthew was channeled as a young child into graphic design through a love of drawing and a fascination with mass-production. With an undergraduate degree in Design from Bowling Green State University, Matthew found work in Cleveland as a silk-screen artist, transitioned later into web design, and in 2001 moved to New York City to pursue his MFA in Design & Technology from Parson’s School of Design. His resulting thesis project, a quasi-3D interactive display system entitled “Spatial Narrative” was soon after commercially applied as the focal point of the Samsung flagship store at the newly constructed Time Warner Building on Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
In 2011, Matthew was selected in a nationwide search to join the faculty of the Columbus College of Art and Design. And after ten years in New York the Mohr’s returned to Ohio to raise their two young daughters. In the summer of 2015, as part of an art initiative incorporated into the expansion and renovation of the Columbus Convention Center, Matthew’s proposal for a large-scale, interactive sculpture was selected. The concept entitled ‘As We Are’ was built in collaboration with DCL of Boston and launched in the Fall of 2017.
