Georgia Tech Arts is excited to announce that the collection of public art on campus is growing with the latest installation of a commissioned work by multimedia artist Christopher Paul Dean in the Georgia Tech Police headquarters on Hemphill Avenue. “OSHA/ANSI no. 15: Safety Tape on Panel” (2020) presents a series of 71 multi-colored panels depicting safety tape patterns, which snake around the building’s brightly lit lobby walls. The vivid pop of colors and patterns create an inviting atmosphere that also highlights the Office of Sustainability, Facilities, and Safety’s commitment to ensuring safety in workspaces and activities across the Institute.

This work is the fifteenth in the artist’s “OSHA/ANSI” series, which has featured varied mediums such as stitched canvas, clay, paint, and digital media. In using the Mighty Line Safety Tape on wood panels, Dean chose to highlight the function of the building and “a device [used by GTPD] to demarcate zones, create order, assist in navigation, alert us to potential hazards and ultimately maintain safety.”

It is the largest project that the University of Hertfordshire and SCAD Atlanta-trained artist has undertaken in his career to date. According to Dean, “The composition staggers up or down depending on which way you enter the building. There are stairs that connect two levels, and I wanted the artwork to engage with this architectural detail - as you move through the space… the composition changes.”

In explaining his choice of motif, Dean explains, “This heavy-duty safety tape is commonly utilized as a device to demarcate zones, create order, assist in navigation, alert us to potential hazards, and, ultimately, maintain safety. But now, through my artistic intervention and in the context of The Georgia Tech Police Campus Safety building, there is a duality of existence in which the bold colors and diagonal pattern not only function as a sign of safety, but also as a work of art.”

Interactive Virtual and In-person Events

Visit the Georgia Tech Police Department (@gtpd) highlight reel for the Christopher Paul Dean project on Instagram to enjoy a series of interactive posts about “OSHA/ANSI no. 15: Safety Tape on Panel.” Take your guess at what safety message each series of multi-color stripes represents and learn more about the artist behind the one of the latest public art installations on campus.

“OSHA/ANSI no. 15: Safety Tape on Panel” (2020) is up now and open for everyone to experience and enjoy. The GTPD and Georgia Tech Arts’ team will be hosting a special Tech community day in spring 2021, where you are invited to see the new work, learn about art on campus, meet your GTPD officers, and take a break between classes to enjoy a cup of coffee and donuts!

About the Artist

Christopher Paul Dean is a British artist currently based in Dallas, Texas. He earned an undergraduate degree in Contemporary Applied Arts from the University of Hertfordshire (England) and a master’s degree in Sculpture from Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta. Since 2010, Dean has worked as an artist assistant in Denmark (Folk Art School, Holbæk), Detroit (Cranbrook Academy of Art), Atlanta (artist Bojana Ginn), and Mexico (U.S Consulate, Monterrey). He currently serves as lead studio assistant to multimedia artist Gabriel Dawe.

Dean has exhibited internationally, including in London, New York City, Dallas, and multiple locations in Georgia. In 2017, he showed work at UNTITLED during Art Basel Miami Beach. Dean was awarded the commission for “OSHA/ANSI no. 15: Safety Tape on Panel,” the large-scale installation for permanent display at Georgia Tech, in 2020.

Dean has a keen interest in the potential of readymade items as materials for creating art. This focus encourages him to explore objects and scenarios in our everyday lives, and it is through this investigation that the subject of ontology - the philosophical study of being, becoming, or existence - enters his practice. Along with the potential of the readymade, there is also an interest in the potential of process. Dean’s engagement with multiple processes is not only evidence of an artist challenging personal creative boundaries, but also an approach that allows him to explore the levels of material manipulation each readymade requires for transformation into a piece of art.  Whether through needle and thread, painting, parking blocks placed side-by-side, his Digital Intervention series, or large-scale installations, the deconstructive/reconstructive nature of Dean’s work is a method to question, disrupt, and ultimately expand the experience we have with the familiar.

About Georgia Tech Arts

Part of the Division of Student Life, Georgia Tech Arts serves as a home for artists, students and faculty working at the innovative and inspiring intersection of art, science and technology. Georgia Tech Arts weaves art into the learning and research of students and faculty across the Institute and invites the entire community to join in these encounters. Through a blend of professional performances, exhibitions, installations, residencies, and support for student and faculty ideas, Georgia Tech Arts places art at the epicenter of supporting the Strategic Objectives of the entire Institute. arts.gatech.edu

About Georgia Tech Police Department

The Georgia Tech Police Department is a full service campus law enforcement agency in Atlanta, Georgia consisting of more than 100 full time employees, sworn and civilian, dedicated to the safety and security of the campus. Primarily responsible for protecting the life and property of people on the Georgia Tech campus, GTPD officers patrol 24/7 and provide a full range of public safety services including:

• Providing first response to emergencies.

• Enforcing laws and Institute regulations.

• Investigating criminal incidents and traffic accidents.

• Reporting crimes and traffic accidents.

• Conducting crime awareness and prevention programs.

The Georgia Tech Police Department has been accredited under the Law Enforcement Agency Program by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) since 2013. CALEA is the only national credentialing authority for law enforcement agencies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.