The Hindu Business Line : Lost in interpretation

The statistics and the history of Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Park are impressive. In 1910, the site was developed as a fuel storage and transfer facility by Union Oil of California (UNOCAL). The soil and groundwater got contaminated with petroleum products. Therefore in the 1990s, UNOCAL and the Washington Department of Ecology initiated a cleaning up of the site. Nearly 1.2 lakh tonnes of petroleum contaminated soil was removed and a groundwater recovery system was ins talled. The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) proposed turning the area into a totally green space in downtown Seattle.

The sun was out when we reached the park. The view is stunning, encompassing Puget Sound with the majestic Olympic Mountains towering on the horizon. The waters shimmered in the late morning sun and the gulls wheeled in concentric circles, now swooping, now soaring, punctuating the soft air with harsh cries. Even weddings are held in this rejuvenating green space.

Unique design

It is a unique Z-shaped design by Weiss and Manfred, the architects of the park, that slopes down to the waterfront where joggers sweated in rhythm, running alongside the blue waters, bicycle freaks rode their cycles, mothers wheeled their prams with infants, older people and young children ambled looking at the sculptures placed at strategic points with curiosity, trying to make some sense of them.

Some of the works of art were commissioned specially for the park and some were loaned from other collections. It was intriguing to examine the thought process behind the creation and admire the combination of artistic creativity and engineering skills necessary for the execution and installation.

For example, the towering curved steel forms in rust brown are riveting to the eye as you come down from the café. Serpentine concave and convex forms, they can assume whichever form you will — tidal waves, battleship profiles etc. Appropriately it is called “Wake” and suggests, even to my untutored eye, a dawning of new ideas, a slow movement heralding an awakening. And there are chairs at all levels descending down from the café for viewers to contemplate the work. Conceived and executed by Richard Serra, it is the artist’s desire that people walk between the two pieces and participate in the environment.

Among those that I found myself lingering over were ‘The Eagle’ and the ‘Father and Son’ installations. ‘The Eagle’ is a soaring orange steel sculpture about 39 ft tall. Set against the townscape of downtown Seattle’s towering blocks of concrete and steel, it is almost surrealistic. It embodies the power of flight, with powerful curving wings and aggressive stance, both feet on earth yet poised for takeoff into the clouds.

‘Father and Son’ is a fountain which includes bronze statues of a father and son who reach out to each other with yearning but do not seem to be able to bridge the chasm in between. For when one figure is clear, the other is covered by the water. To me, it was a depiction of the lack of communication between parent and child, the isolation of each even when within sight of the other — the outstretched arms tugged at my heartstrings. The artist explains that the nudity and obscuring of the figures by water represents vulnerability and the way male familial relationships deteriorate.

whimsical

Some of the pieces were whimsical such as the Typewriter Eraser and the eye-like benches. It seems ironic that the former was loaned by Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates, for it is said that by the time the commissioned artist finished his piece, the typewriter ribbon was made obsolete by the computer.

Also at the shore are three pairs of benches, each in the form of massive eyes which follow one around. It is disconcerting, to say the least!

Each sculpture is carefully set within its own space, allowing for the dynamics between viewer and object to flow. Interspersed in between and all around are dogwood trees and other northwest botanical plants. When we went the dogwood was in bloom, the trees looking beautiful with their white-starred blossoms which sometimes drifted down on to the sculptures and the ground.

And like in all American Museums and Parks, the facilities are exemplary — a café, a gift shop with objects from recycled materials in keeping with the idea of the Park’s origin, and relevant literature.

A tribute to the City Fathers and private individuals who have used restorative engineering to heal a bruised space, transforming it into something set against the timeless waters and mountains of Seattle to form a soothing, comforting area for its citizens.

More Stories on : Arts & Crafts | International Travel

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Rustic repast from Italy

We the people...

Indian biz school in London

RGV: The Remake

Woman with drive

Lost in interpretation