The Nasher Museum of Art has received its first tattoo. On Tuesday, New York-based artist Steed Taylor installed Indige- nous, a work of art Taylor calls a "road tattoo." Taylor says the artwork is based on the idea that "if roads are considered the skin of a community, then a road is to the public body what skin is to the private body. If people mark their skin as a means of commemoration, communication or ritual, than a road can be marked for the same reasons." Inspired by the verdant setting of the Nasher and his personal family history, Taylor designed the organic pattern of "Indigenous" as a tribute to such native North Carolinian plant species as tomato, tobacco and squash. A series of volunteers helped to produce the artwork; pictured Paul Wirhun, a friend of the artist, paints in a section. "Indigenous" is being sponsored by the Visual Arts Committee of the Duke University Union and hosted by the Nasher Museum of Art.
