Allen School Artists
CSE Graduate Students
The Steam-Poweredd Turning Machine
In 1987, a group of CSE graduate students seeking diversion on the eve of the Ph.D. qualifying examination painted the Steam-Powered Turing Machine mural in a stairwell in Sieg Hall (CSE’s home from 1975-2003).
The SPTM was conjured up years earlier by Professor Alan Borning. Alan was coordinating a revision of CSE’s graduate program brochure. When Professor Larry Ruzzo missed the deadline for providing a description of his research, Alan created a fictitious description of Larry’s research, which appeared in the brochure as follows:
Currently, his principal research project involves the construction and programming of a vaguely parallel computer consisting of 32 steam-powered Turing machines installed in the basement of Sieg Hall. Of particular interest is the use of triple-expansion bypass valves, coupled to individual governors on each engine, to achieve write-synchronization of the machines. Graduate students have played an important role in the construction and operation of the engine, particularly in stoking the boilers, and advanced undergraduates are occasionally allowed to polish the brass gauges.
On the night before the qualifying examination in the spring of 1987, graduate students Simon Kahan, Terry Farrah, and Tony Barrett led a band of roughly a dozen guerrilla graffiti artists who painted the SPTM mural — a lasting symbol of UW CSE student and department spirit. The identity of the artists remained a mystery for some time. At the annual CSE retreat following the appearance of the mural, chair Paul Young read the following message from a student:
Last night I was kidnapped by those same criminals who are responsible for the hideous graffiti which recently appeared on the wall of Sieg’s east stairwell. They released me upon discovery of my voracious appetite, but only upon the condition that I act as courier of the following message to you:
The décor of Sieg Hall is deplorable. As you can see, we have no choice but to take matters into our own hands. As a gesture of your willingness to support our cause, we demand that you reimburse us $120 to cover our expenses. If you choose not to comply we will find something to do with the leftover gallon of white paint – and it won’t be pretty!
Whatever you do, I hope you don t give in to these despicable rebels!
The faculty took up a collection, then and there, to pay the ransom. Furthermore, Paul called on the University’s maintenance staff to add a protective coating to the wall, so that this symbol of CSE spirit might endure.
A photographic reproduction of the Sieg Hall mural now greets visitors to the CSE reception suites in both the Paul G. Allen Center and the Bill & Melinda Gates Center.tent
David Salesin
David Salesin is Affiliate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at University of Washington and Vice President and Fellow at Adobe Systems, where he directs the Creative Technologies Lab. Salesin’s research is in graphics and animation, as well as digital photography and video.
In 2003, David joined Michael Hawley from the MIT Media Lab and a group of others on a trip to Bhutan, a poor and remote kingdom located in the Himalayas between China and India. The result of that trip is the world’s largest book. Called Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey, the stunning book of photographs weighs 133 pounds and opens to 5 feet by 7 feet. The UW library has built a special display case for the book.
Three of Salesin’s spectacular Bhutan photos can be found on the 2nd floor of the Allen Center in the hallway leading to the Simoni Laboratory. These photographs were part of an exhibit of David’s photographs at both Meany Hall at UW and Fugio World Furnishings and Gallery on Capitol Hill.
Anonymous
In December 2005, a new work, Eponymous, appeared mysteriously in the Allen Center 5th floor hallway near the offices of Ed Lazowska and Gaetano Borriello. The work even included its own name tag in the style of other building art tags, listing the name of the piece and the artist, Anonymous. Sometime shortly after, a typed note from Anonymous was slipped under Hank Levy’s door. The note stated:
“The spotlights in front of Ed’s and Gaetano’s offices were on for around a year…those lights on an empty wall simply cried for attention. Finally, in December, I couldn’t help myself anymore and I arted.”
We’re just happy that nobody was around when it happened! We’re also curious about the name — if Eponymous is eponymous, shouldn’t it be Anonymous?