Vegas: Past, present and future

Friday, May 18, 2007 | 7:22 a.m.

The sun pulsates. Things could melt on days like these. Car doors slam, traffic passes. It's business as usual downtown.

But silent, stoic and majestic, "Monument to Simulacrum" anchors the southeast corner of Centennial Plaza.

This will be its job for the next 100 years.

It's amazing when you realize what went into creating the sculpture that tops Las Vegas' concrete-encased time capsule , placed during the centennial year. Its staying power lies not only in environmental conditions, but history and future relevancy.

Resembling a mountain peak with "future past" elements, the abstract, geometric sculpture is 12 feet high and 9 feet in diameter. Unveiled Monday, it is artist Stephen Hendee's embodiment of Las Vegas' past, present and future: a timeless reminder of the environment in which we live.

"I wanted something that would evoke the inhospitable aspect of the natural landscape and the idea that people came here against the odds to do what they wanted to do," Hendee says.

The sandblasted surface, coated with polymer, was laser cut and welded. Shadows and muted light reflections bounce off the angular matte wedges. Its peak glows at night.

"People come here to change their lives and take on risk itself. We've built something here," Hendee says. To commemorate that, he wanted the "dynamic geometry that comes with looking at an apex of a mountain."

Hendee, an assistant professor at UNLV, is known for translucent geometric installations that visitors can explore while walking through them.

"Momentum to Simulacrum" is dedicated to French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, whom Hendee revered for his writings on Las Vegas as a culturally pertinent place. Baudrillard died in March.

Details: "Monument to Simulacrum" is in Centennial Plaza at Fourth Street and Lewis Avenue. It was funded through the Las Vegas Centennial Commission .

Chamber music

Almost four years ago Robert Stewart and John Clare decided our rapidly growing city could use a little chamber music.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic had a foothold, as did university groups, but there was no formal support for the delightful, democratic, conductorless ensembles that can really flavor a classical music scene.

With a tiny board and only 15 members, the Las Vegas Chamber Music Society has managed to present a few concerts a year, beginning with a solo recital by pianist Awadagin Pratt before an audience of 60 at the Guggenheim-Hermitage museum in 2004.

"We were trying to figure out how to fill the hole. There was no chamber music going on," Stewart, the group's president, says. Clare, the former classical program manager for KNPR, has moved to Pennsylvania.

Tonight's performance by the Ouroboros Piano Quartet from the University of Southern California ends this season. The group features violist Kaila Potts, a former student of the Las Vegas Academy of Performing and Visual Arts and winner of the Sphynx Competition.

The program includes Mozart's Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Piano Quartet in E flat major and Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor.

Stewart says the group is planning its next season and will probably throw in a jazz quartet. To keep it going, he grovels for members before concerts.

"We're struggling, but we have a nice little history."

Details: 7 tonight, Summerlin Library Theatre, 1771 Inner Circle Drive. Admission is free, 507-3863.