Tilted Arc

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Tilted Arc was a sculpture commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration's Arts-in-Architecture program for the Federal Plaza in New York, NY. It was designed by Richard Serra and constructed in 1981, and dismantled, after much debate, in 1989.

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[edit] Commission

In the mid-1970s the Art-in-Architecture program decided to commission a work of public art to grace the open space in front of a planned addition to the Jacob Javits Federal Building. Richard Serra was selected as the artist by the GSA administrator, after having been recommended by an NEA panel of art experts.

[edit] Design

The sculpture was a solid, unfinished plate of Core-Ten steel, 120 feet long (36.6 meters), 12 feet high (3.66 meters), and 2.5 inches thick. As its name suggests, it was slightly tilted. Serra said of the design, "The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza. As he moves, the sculpture changes. Contraction and expansion of the sculpture result from the viewer's movement. Step by step the perception not only of the sculpture but of the entire environment changes." [1]

[edit] Controversy

Many people, prominently Judge Edward Re, opposed the sculpture. Reasons included its cost ($175,000 for a solid block of steel); the fact that many people found it an eyesore; and the inconvenience to those who had to walk around the massive sculpture as they crossed the plaza. It also attracted graffiti and, according to some, rats. [2]

A public hearing was held on the subject of the sculpture in March of 1985, with 122 people testifying in favor of keeping the piece, and 58 in favor of removing it. A jury of five voted 4-1 to remove the sculpture. The decision was appealed by Serra, leading to several years of litigation in the courts, but the sculpture was dismantled by federal workers on March 15, 1989.

[edit] References

Weyergraf-Serra, Clara and Martha Buskirk, eds. The Destruction of Tilted Arc: Documents. Introduction by Richard Serra. The MIT Press, 1990.

Senie, Harriet F., and Webster, Sally, eds. Critical Issues in Public Art. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992.

[edit] Fictional references

William Gaddis satirized these events in his 1994 novel, A Frolic of His Own.

[edit] Sources cited

[edit] External links