Environmental Sculpture in the U.S.A.: High Art or Cultural Shrubbery?

Leonardo, Vol. 9, pp. 33-35. Pergamon Press 1976. Printed in Great Britain ENVIRONMENTAL SCULPTURE IN THE U.S.A.: HIGH ART OR CULTURAL SHRUBBERY? Howard Conant* In the context of the abominations-in-the-name-ofenvironmental sculpture that visually pollute many a modern shopping center, commercial building lobby, outdoor plaza, public garden and government mall in the U.S.A., it might seem pointless to discuss the aesthetic nierits of the comparatively few pieces of large-scale sculpture produced by such ‘quality’ professionals as Calder, Dubuffet and Picasso. It might seem even more pointless to quibble about the ethics of environmental art. Yet, as more than one highly-principled person has said during the Watergate era, sonieone has to ‘hold the line’, if the value system of our country is to survive. Within the narrower context of environmental sculpture produced by ‘quality’ artists, no matter how outnumbered such works may be by the plethora of inane decorations in public places, I shall, therefore, ask a few questions concerning the aesthetics and ethics of this field of art in an effort to ‘hold the line’ of the value system that I subscribe to. The sheer attentiondemanding size and steadily increasing number of outdoor sculptures that are insinuating themselves upon the public raise many provocative questions. Is this kind of sculpture merely a superficial attempt to avoid a solution of one of the problems of large cities? Is it a cultural smokescreen for architectural overbuild? Is large-scale, outdoor sculpture godplaying , super ego-trip art? Does sculpture get better as it gets bigger? Does good architecture need sculptural embellishment? If so, would not 3-dimensional adjunct structures, such as those designed by Le Corbusier to augment the government buildings in Chandigarh, contribute much more effectively to an aesthetic whole? Are contrasting artistic styles in adjacent architectural and sculptural works better than related or identical ones? To what extent should the size of a work of art be governed by its iconography? Is there an ideal maximum size beyond which a particular piece of sculpture loses its optimum quality? Is a ten-story high sculpture seen from a block away governed by the same aesthetic principles as a 10 fthigh version of the same piece seen in a museum or a 10 in.-high version held in one’s hand? These and many other questions are being asked with increasing frequency as more and more large-scale sculpture appears in our environment. In this paper I have chosen to deal with a few of these questions. What is the rationale behind the commissioning of large-scale outdoor sculpture? Is it primarily aesthetic or economic? Does the placement of a large Alexander Calder stabile (Fig. 1) in the plaza of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City enhance the aesthetic qualities of the sculpture itself? Or would it look better in a garden or a park or in the austere environment of a museum? Does his stabile enhance the aesthetic quality of the building? Does he design his stabiles to aesthetically enhance specific buildings or plazas, or does he simply make sculptural pieces intended to function by themselves, pieces that are later placed in various environments as status symbols? Is not an immediately recognizable Calder welded-steel sculpture only a sign of what is considered by some to be the last. word in taste, respectability and dependability that, like Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chairs, tell customers of commercial enterprises that the environment is appropriate for their investments? One is tempted to suggest the alternative of a nicely-placed large oak tree that might convey a similar impression at a fraction of the cost, in addition to providing a source of oxygen, shade, variations through seasonal change and with no need to be cleaned or re-painted. Is there a ‘new aesthetic’ that applies specially to outdoor sculpture? Are there new principles of artistic judgment that function in densely populated urban *Professor and Chairman, Dept. of Art and Art Education, New York University, 80 Washington Square East, Room 47, New York, NY 10003, U.S.A. (Received 3 March 1975.) Fig. 1. Alexarider Calder. ‘Le Guichet ’, painted welded...