Richard Serra at Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle WA

While attending the first annual Steampunk Convention (http://www.steam-con.com) in Seattle, WA I had the opportunity to see Richard Serra's 2004 work entitled Wake. The work consists of several two inch thick S-shaped steel plates placed together defining wide undulating passageways between them. It is the horizontal dimension of the plates that forms the S while the vertical dimension remains straight. The lack of vertical modulation lends this Serra work a much more static and less imposing feel than that of the torqued ellipses or large listing plates for which he is so well known (see Dia:Beacon). The thrill of a Serra, for me, has always been in its ability to totally engulf the viewer, to challenge and fight our natural uprightness by gradually encroaching on our horizons. My favorite way to amplify this experience is to run through or closely past the arrangements making it harder for your brain and balance to compensate for the disconcerting lean of the huge pieces of steel as they rush past. Viewing the sculptures from a recumbent position is also quite exhilarating. Wake never tempted me into either of these activities though it's location did not promote unorthodox viewing strategies. The work is placed in an oddly private public setting without the camouflage of a crowd or the freedom of solitude. In addition SAM, the Seattle Art Museum, placed Wake in a large excavated garden of sorts. Thus, the work is surrounded on all sides by concrete retaining walls (despite being on the waterfront) that actually towered above the height of the steel plates, reducing their perceived scale and sapping their power. Rather than defining the space Wake seemed to be defined (confined) by the space around it. The decision to place the work in a hole is odd given the sweeping views of the bay from other locations within the park. The work's wide spacing, nonconfrontational shape, and placement made Wake the least successful Serra I've seen, though making several 30 ton steel plates unintimidating is a feat in itself.

See the work at the Seattle Art Museum website here.