Atlanta artist Gregor Turk recently unveiled his newest public artwork titled Myriad on the winter solstice, December 21, at the edge of Piedmont Park. The installation occupies an ideal location near the entrance at 10th Street, offering sweeping views of the Meadow and the Midtown skyline that become part of the artistic experience. The piece features thirty-six round security mirrors mounted on poles and arranged in a gentle arc across a patch of lawn. These mirrors, familiar to urban drivers as the type used in parking garages to prevent collisions, come in three different sizes to provide varied reflective perspectives. The number thirty-six intentionally references the thirty-six years that Piedmont Park Conservancy has served as stewards of the park, connecting the artwork directly to the site's history.
At first glance, Myriad resembles a field of giant mirrored lollipops scattered across the grass in an elegant curve. When park visitors stand before the installation, they encounter multiple reflective perspectives simultaneously that change based on their position and the time of day. Some may see themselves captured in numerous mirrors at once, creating a fragmented self-portrait, while others might focus on the activity behind them—dogs pulling on leashes, cyclists cruising past, or runners trotting along nearby trails. During quieter moments, the mirrors reflect more serene images such as red cardinals in flight, clouds moving across blue skies, or tree branches swaying in the breeze. Each mirror offers a different viewpoint, creating a complex visual experience that transforms with every visit.
Turk intentionally designed Myriad to produce conflicting interpretations that challenge viewers' perceptions. He describes how the mirrors can feel confining because each captures only a disconnected frame rather than a complete picture, creating what he calls a "Swiss cheese effect" with negative spaces between them. Conversely, they can amplify and broaden one's perspective by widening the field of view in ways ordinary vision cannot. Visitors might notice the uniformity of the circular mirrors or feel disturbed by their distorted refractions. Given that these devices are tools for security and surveillance, some viewers may feel frightened or watched, while others might experience a sense of safety from the expanded vision. Turk embraces all these responses as valid interpretations and aims to provide an observatory that allows for various, often conflicting readings.
Myriad represents the fourth installment in Turk's series of public artworks utilizing security mirrors to explore themes of surveillance and place. The first piece, Phalanx, installed in 2017 at the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap along the North Carolina border, featured seventeen mirrors placed at uniform height in a straight line directly on the border itself. This work confronted viewers' ideas about border security during a time of intense political debate on the topic. The second piece, Assembly, commissioned for Druid Hills Presbyterian Church on Ponce de Leon Avenue, arranged thirty-three mirrors in an arc at varying heights to create a "sweet spot" where people could see themselves multiplied. The third work, Arena, installed at Goat Farm Arts Center, positioned mirrors in a circle to create a more jarring, potentially threatening experience through 360-degree inward reflection.
For the past decade, Turk's artistic practice has been deeply influenced by his fascination with surveillance and its impact on society. He notes that Atlanta is the most surveilled city in the United States, a fact that concerns him despite acknowledging the security benefits these devices provide. In 2023, Turk installed Welcome at the Georgia Museum of Art, a twenty-nine-foot-tall piece composed of seventy-seven security cameras arranged to spell the word "Welcome" as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on surveillance culture. Before focusing on surveillance, Turk maintained a longstanding interest in maps, landmarks, and pictography, which began when he collected maps as a child and discovered "phantom streets" that existed only on paper as mapmakers' trade secrets.
Turk's public art philosophy centers on reinforcing a sense of place rather than creating it artificially. His work at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport includes the eighty-six-foot-long ceramic tile installation Latitudes and Legends, which has been displayed between gates E33 and E36 since 2004. This long, narrow map examines geography between the 30th and 35th parallels, roughly Georgia's north and south borders, circling the globe with Atlanta appearing at both ends. Myriad is located near the meadow entrance to Piedmont Park at 10th Street and Charles Allen Drive and will remain installed indefinitely. The Antinori Foundation provided financial support after foundation president Susan Antinori saw Phalanx and believed Turk's work would beautifully complement how people connect with the park space.
