Friday, June 13, 2008

Seattle Trip Day 1: Olympic Sculpture Park

Olympic Sculpture Park
1300 First Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101-2003
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/visit/osp/AboutOSP/default.asp

Typewriter Eraser, Scale X, model
1998, fabricated 1999Stainless steel and fiberglass painted with acrylic urethaneClaes OldenburgAmerican, (born in Sweden), 1929and Coosje van BruggenAmerican, born 194219 ft. 4 in. x 11 ft. 11 1/12 in. x 11 ft. 8 1/4 in.







Eagle,
1971 Painted steel Alexander Calder American, 1898-1976465 x 390 x 390 in. (1181.1 x 990.6 x 990.6cm); estimated weight 6 tons




This one is my favorite.

Wake, 2004
10 plates, 5 sets of locked toroid forms, weatherproof steelRichard SerraAmerican, born 1939each set, overall: 14 ft. 1 1/4 in. x 48 ft. 4 in. x 6 ft. 4 3/8 in.; overall installation: 14 ft. 1/4 in. H. x 125 ft. L x 46 ft. W. ; plate thickness 2"; weight: 30 tons (each plate)

For Richard Serra, space is a substance as tangible as sculpture. He uses materials and scale to alter perception and to engage the body, encouraging consciousness of our relation to space. The towering, curved steel forms of Wake were achieved with computer imaging and machines that manufacture ship hulls, including a demilitarized machine that once made French nuclear submarines. It is composed of five identical modules, each with two S-shaped sections positioned in inverted relation to one another—gently curving serpentines of convex and concave parts that suggest tidal waves or profiles of battleships. The surface of acid-washed, weather-proof steel reinforces this industrial effect. Wake's powerful silhouette belies a complex configuration of parts: the whole cannot be known at once, only experienced with physical movement and progressively over time.

Elliott Bay