Jim Sanborn

Sanborn was born in Washington, D.C.. His father was the head of exhibitions at the Library of Congress,{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/12/AR2010081206830.html?wprss=rss_print/style|date=August 15, 2010|accessdate=August 15, 2010|title=Sculptor Jim Sanborn gets wealth of ideas from the likes of 'Wealth of Nations'|newspaper=The Washington Post}} and his mother was a concert pianist and photo researcher. He grew up in Alexandria and Arlington, Virginia, attending Burgundy Farm Country Day School, followed by JEB Stuart High School—both in Fairfax County—and then attended Randolph-Macon College, receiving a degree in paleontology, fine arts, and social anthropology in 1968, followed by a Master of Fine Arts degree in sculpture from the Pratt Institute in 1971.{{Cite web| url=https://www.aaa.si.edu/download_pdf_transcript/ajax?record_id=edanmdm-AAADCD_oh_283557 | title=Oral history interview with Jim Sanborn, July 14–16, 2009| work=Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution | access-date=12 September 2022 }} He taught at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, and then for nine years was the artist-in-residence at Glen Echo Park.{{cite web|url=http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/sanborn.html |title=Jim Sanborn|last=Dunin|first=Elonka|accessdate=December 14, 2009}}

Sanborn's artwork has been displayed at the High Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. He has created sculptural works for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.{{cite web|url=http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Discover_Collection_Jim_Sanborn#|title=James Sanborn|work=Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|accessdate=October 26, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629094746/http://www.nasonline.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Discover_Collection_Jim_Sanborn|archivedate=June 29, 2010|df=mdy-all}} Themes in his work have included "making the invisible visible", with many sculptures focusing on topics such as magnetism, the coriolis effect, secret messages, and mysteries of atomic reactions.{{cite book|title=Secrets of the Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind The Da Vinci Code Sequel|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061964978|url-access=registration|editor=Daniel Burstein|editor2=Arne de Keijzer|author=Dunin, Elonka|author-link=Elonka Dunin|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2009|isbn=978-0-06-196495-4|chapter=Art, Encryption, and the Preservation of Secrets: An interview with Jim Sanborn|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061964978/page/294 294–300]}}

While in England studying archaeology, Sanborn endeavored to create a structure out of stone to gain a better insight on Romanesque sculptures.{{cite web|url=http://uh.edu/uhtoday/2004/06jun/062804sanborn.html|title=Art that speaks for itself |last=Vasquez|first=Leticia |date=June 28, 2004 |publisher=The University of Houston|accessdate=October 29, 2009}} From this he has created many works of art that deal with invisible forces. These include the coriolis effect and its use of Newton's laws of motion that govern the motion of an object in an inertial frame of reference. He has also worked on pieces that implemented the Earth's magnetic field using lodestones. Other sculptures have featured the science of cryptography.{{cite web|url=https://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2005/01/66333?currentPage=all|title=Questions for Kryptos' Creator|last=Zetter |first=Kim |author-link=Kim Zetter|date=January 5, 2005|publisher=Wired|accessdate=October 29, 2009}} One of Sanborn's most famous cryptographic works, entitled Kryptos, is featured in Dan Brown's 2009 novel The Lost Symbol. The novel is one of books which includes Robert Langdon, the symbologist.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kryptos-and-dan-brown-inside-the-cias-code-of-secrecy-1686787.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519191401/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kryptos-and-dan-brown-inside-the-cias-code-of-secrecy-1686787.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 19, 2009|title='Kryptos' and Dan Brown: Inside the CIA's code of secrecy|date=May 18, 2009|publisher=Independent News and Media Limited |accessdate=October 29, 2009}}{{cite book|title=Secrets of the Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind The Da Vinci Code Sequel|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061964978|url-access=registration|editor=Daniel Burstein|editor2=Arne de Keijzer|author=Dunin, Elonka|author-link=Elonka Dunin|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2009|isbn=978-0-06-196495-4|chapter=Kryptos: The Unsolved Enigma|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780061964978/page/319 319–326]}}

{{Main|Kryptos}}

File:Kryptos sculptor.jpg in Langley, Virginia]]

Kryptos was the first cryptographic sculpture made by Sanborn. It was presented to the Central Intelligence Agency in Langley, Virginia on November 3, 1990.

The sculpture has been both a puzzle and a mystery for those who hope to crack the cyphered messages contained within the sculpture's 2,000 alphabetic letters. Since Kryptos was erected, three of the four sections have been confirmed to have been solved. No one has yet been able to solve the remaining 97-character message.{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtual-tour/kryptos/flash-movie-text.html|title=Kryptos Story|date=April 30, 2007|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|accessdate=October 27, 2009|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091026195916/https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/virtual-tour/kryptos/flash-movie-text.html|archivedate=October 26, 2009|df=mdy-all}} He has also said that should he die before the sculpture's code is cracked, there will be a "sort of historic record" left to verify the claim.

As part of its 1994–1997 renovations, Sanborn was commissioned to create a sculpture. The sculpture is entitled Ex Nexum; it was installed in 1997 at Little Rock Old US Post Office & Courthouse.{{Cite web |title=Old Post Office and Courthouse, Little Rock, AR |url=https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/historic-preservation/explore-historic-buildings/find-a-building/all-historic-buildings/old-post-office-and-courthouse-little-rock-ar |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204175406/https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/historic-preservation/explore-historic-buildings/find-a-building/all-historic-buildings/old-post-office-and-courthouse-little-rock-ar |archive-date=February 4, 2024 |access-date=2024-05-05 |website=U.S. General Services Administration |language=en}}

Lux was built in 2001 at the Old Post Office Building in Fort Myers, Florida. Both cylinders are made of bronze and they stand as high as 8' with a diameter of 5'. Another work, Caloosahatchee Manuscripts, is in the same location.

Sanborn has also created works of art that reach into the realms of atomic energy and experimental physics. In Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction, he presented a "life-size re-creation of a hypothetical atomic lab."{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/atomic-time-pure-science-and-seduction,1086631/critic-review.html#reviewNum1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108232635/http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/profile/atomic-time-pure-science-and-seduction,1086631/critic-review.html#reviewNum1|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 8, 2012|title=Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction |last=Gopnik|first=Blake |date=November 3, 2003|newspaper=The Washington Post|accessdate=October 19, 2009}} The exhibit featured the sculpture Critical Assembly, a three-dimensional representation of the components of an atomic bomb. The sculpture included a disassembled sphere that had been designed to hold the nuclear payload of plutonium and uranium.{{cite web|url=http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-11/03/content_277926.htm|title=Exhibit: Nuke allure|date=November 3, 2003|publisher=chinadaily.com|accessdate=October 19, 2009}}

His next exhibit Terrestrial Physics, was to displayed in June 2010 as part of Denver, Colorado's Biennial of the Americas. It included a sculpture that is able to generate a 1 million volt potential difference. Utilizing a recreated Van de Graaff generator, Sanborn created a fully functional particle accelerator capable of creating nuclear fission.{{cite news|last = Gopnik|first = Blake|title =Sparking Interest Within the Sphere of Art|newspaper=The Washington Post|date = August 25, 2009|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082403317.html|accessdate =October 23, 2009}}

In addition to designing intricate sculptures and exhibits, Sanborn has also turned some of his large-scale outdoor art into an interactive experience. Coastline located at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, is one such piece. A recreation of a portion of Atlantic coastline, the waves experienced here are transferred in "real time" from a monitoring station at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.{{cite web|url=http://elonka.com/kryptos/sanborn/coastline.html|title=Sanborn's Coastline Sculpture|last=Dunin|first=Elonka|accessdate=November 3, 2009}}

Sanborn designed Indian run park located adjacent to the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Beltsville, Maryland, with inspiration from the Iroquois Nations that inhabited the area nearly 900 years ago. On this site, hundreds of artifacts by the Iroquois have been discovered, and it is estimated that thousands still remain. The artist himself has also "seeded" 10,000 arrowheads within the grounds, allowing visitors the opportunity of taking a piece of this work of art with them. The park, named after the original Indian Run river that once existed there, includes a waterfall and walkway resembling the snaking waterway. Also, located within the park is a bronze cylindrical sculpture written in Onondaga language and "transcribed from the ancient oral tradition of the five Iroquois nations." At night it is illuminated with a pinpoint light that emits its text upon the surrounding environment.{{cite web|url=http://elonka.com/kryptos/sanborn/IndianRunPark.html|title=Sanborn's Indian Run Park|last=Dunin|first=Elonka|accessdate=November 3, 2009}}

Sanborn's 2004 book, Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction, includes images detailing his exhibit Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction inspired by the Manhattan Project.{{cite book|last=Sanborn|first=Jim|title= Atomic Time: Pure Science and Seduction|editor=Jonathan P. Binstock|publisher=Corcoran Gallery of Art |year=2004|isbn=0-88675-072-5 }}

• Kryptos, CIA, 1990. Embedded with four ciphers, it was intended to be a challenge to the employees of the CIA. Presently only three of the four messages have been deciphered.
• Coastline, 1993, an outdoor wave pool sculpture at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration complex in Silver Spring, Maryland.
• Cyrillic Projector, a sculpture installed at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 1997.
• A,A, erected in 2004 on the campus of the University of Houston, adjacent to the M.D. Anderson Library.{{cite web|last = Vasquez|first = Leticia|title = Art that Speaks for Itself Enlightens New Sculpture|publisher = University of Houston Today|date = June 28, 2004|url = http://uh.edu/uhtoday/2004/06jun/062804sanborn.html|accessdate =August 25, 2009}}
• Lingua located at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. It contains historical text ranging from 1400 BC to the present day.{{cite web|url=http://www.dcconvention.com/artcollection.aspx |title=Walter E. Washington Convention Center Art Collection |date=September 6, 2009 |publisher=Washington Convention Center Authority |accessdate=October 20, 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210100326/http://www.dcconvention.com/artcollection.aspx |archivedate=February 10, 2008 }}
• Critical Assembly, 2003, modeled the first atomic bomb and key experiments of the Manhattan Project and was displayed at the Corcoran Gallery of Art.{{cite journal|last = Flynn|first = Michael|title =But is it art? (Bulletins)|journal = Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists|date = January–February 2004|url = http://thebulletin.metapress.com/content/n645481v5p22843l/?p=5a3e45c8cc934b9ca45b6da0b727e1c9&pi=0|doi = 10.2968/060001003|accessdate =August 4, 2009|url-access = subscription|doi-access = free}}
• Radiance, 2008, Louisiana State University, erected in front of the Center for Energy Studies.{{cite web|last = Schneider|first = Emma|title = Energy, Coast and Environment Building Achieves "Radiance"|url = http://www.lsu.edu/highlights/2008/05/radiance_sculpture_photos/index.html}}
• Terrestrial Physics, 2009, which includes a full-scale working particle accelerator. It premiered in June 2010 as part of [https://web.archive.org/web/20090529074841/http://www.denver.org/metro/features/Denver-Biennial Biennial of the Americas].{{cite news|last = Gopnik|first = Blake|title =Sparking Interest Within the Sphere of Art|newspaper=The Washington Post|date = August 25, 2009|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082403317.html|accessdate =August 25, 2009}}

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• 1982 National Endowment For The Arts Fellowship
• 1983 Kawasaki International Sculpture Symposium, Kawasaki Japan.
• 1984 Virginia Commission On The Arts Fellowship.
• 1986 National Endowment For The Arts Fellowship.
• 1987 Kaoshiung Taiwan International Sculpture Symposium, Kaoshiung Taiwan.
• 1988 Awards In The Visual Arts Grant.
• 1988 Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant.
• 1990 Art Matters Inc. Grant.
• 1991 Virginia Museum Fellowship.
• 1992 Virginia Commission On the Arts Grant.
• 1992 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant.
• 1994 Virginia Commission on The Arts Grant.
• 1997 Sirius Project Residency, Cork Ireland.{{cite web|url=http://irvinecontemporary.com/resumes/Sanborn-Resume.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024135305/http://irvinecontemporary.com/resumes/Sanborn-Resume.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 24, 2007|title=Sanborn Resume|work=PDF|publisher=Irvine Contemporary|accessdate=October 28, 2009}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite web|url=http://jimsanborn.net|title=Jim Sanborn – the artist's list of works|publisher=jimsanborn.net|date=August 2010|author=Sanborn, Jim|accessdate=August 8, 2010}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.elonka.com/kryptos/sanborn.html|title=Elonka Dunin's Sanborn page (his photograph, short biography, selected list of works|publisher=elonka.com|author=Dunin, Elonka|author-link=Elonka Dunin|year=2003|accessdate=August 8, 2010}}
• {{cite web|url = https://art.state.gov/personnel/jim_sanborn/| title = Jim Sanborn | author = U.S. Department of State|accessdate = July 25, 2022}}

{{Jim Sanborn}}

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Category:1945 births

Category:20th-century American sculptors

Category:21st-century American sculptors

Category:21st-century American male artists

Category:American male sculptors

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American male artists

Category:Artists from Washington, D.C.

Category:Randolph–Macon College alumni

Category:Pratt Institute alumni

Category:Montgomery College faculty