A painted steel sculpture by Alexander Liberman (1912-1999), an American born sculptor.
'Begob' is approximately 20 feet high and somewhat less in 'diameter'. It is a dense complex assembly of thick steel plates that have been cut and bent, bolted together, and painted in Liberman's signature (patented?) color. To me it conveys drama and motion and the suggestion of a vigorous exchange of ideas, all of which are apt for the work's location in the heart of the Engineering Campus (part of North Campus) at the University of Michigan. The work was not commissioned for this purpose, having been created in 1989 and spent the first 7 years of its life in a private collection. It was installed in front of the Robert H. Lurie Engineering Center in 1996.
By comparison with 'Aria' (see http://arctangent.smugmug.com/Art/Alexander-Liberman/Aria-Painted-Steel-Sculpture/15637351_sLhMJ2) which is gigantic and open, and which you can literally walk into and through, 'Begob' is compact, and can only be viewed from the outside, looking in. Another difference is that the pieces in 'Aria' are all flat or nearly so, while the pieces that make up 'Begob' are nearly all curved in contour as well as in outline. This, together with the intensely shiny surface, provides a rich variety of reflections.