Artist Brendan Monroe Explains ‘Forming Clouds’

8/9 Pratt School of Engineering

Watch: A new mural takes shape in the Wilkinson Building's Computing & Intelligent Systems research neighborhood

Artist Brendan Monroe Explains ‘Forming Clouds’

“Forming Clouds” is a new mural commissioned by Duke Engineering that spans several walls on the fourth floor of the Wilkinson Building at Duke University. Its abstract cloud shapes flow towards a glass conference room and the Derrick Family Terrace, which overlook Duke Chapel.

Artist Brendan Monroe was inspired by the clouds found in nature but says that “Forming Clouds” is also a reference to cloud computing—his murals are often site-specific, and the fourth floor of the Wilkinson Building is home to the Computing and Intelligent Systems research neighborhood. In this interview, conducted as he painted, he draws parallels between his own work and the work of engineers: “I think both art and science need to be creative.”

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