By Chris Beswetherick
At Western, art is not just something to hang on gallery walls and look at. Art is an integral and interactive part of campus.
“Wright’s Triangle” by Richard Serra
Minimalist sculptor Richard Serra studied under Constantin Brâncuși, attended Yale, has permanent work in the Bilbao Guggenheim and is known internationally. Also, the Outdoor Sculpture Garden has installed one of his pieces.
It creates a room in the middle of campus, separated from the rest of it, but very much integrated. Paths intersect in the sculpture; its walls surround the intersection and have openings where the paths once were. This minimalist sculpture creates silence. Take a two minute break and enter the sculpture the next time you walk by it on campus.
“For Handel” by Mark di Suvero
Another world-renowned sculptor, famous for his works made with enormous steel H-Beams, is Mark di Suvero. “For Handel” co-exists with the Performing Arts Center (PAC). Di Suvero, when asked to install a piece in the plaza of the PAC, decided the architecture of the PAC was designed like so to define its function for the study of music.
“I tried to give something to that space which is not just a plaza but also a roof for the rehearsal hall downstairs, and it has a magnificent view,” di Suvero said in an interview published in Clark-Langager’s “Sculpture in Place: A Campus as Site.” “I tried to give the sculpture a little bit of that inspirational moment/movement that Handel’s music has – the sensation of rapture, a spatial concept that gives a sense of being able to make it blaze.”
The sculpture also used to have a swing hanging down from the longest extending steel beam, but di Suvero decided to exclude it.
“Stone Enclosure: Rock Rings” by Nancy Holt
Earthwork artist Nancy Holt had been visiting the deserts of Utah to install sculptures, but saw the Northwest as another step in her work. Her sculpture opened in 1978 and stands behind the south campus lawn toward the Fairhaven dorms.
Holt constructed ring windows into the sculpture to transform the enclosure into a compass. The windows give the audience a horizontal perspective into the adjacent lawn and forests. Holt also designed the sculpture to align with the north star as she said Bellingham citizens and coastal navigators would be interested in knowing their location in the enclosure.
“Steam Works for Bellingham” by Robert Morris
In 1974, this work opened with two modes: on and off. These modes are established in order to conserve energy for the school, but also to create moments for the audience to interpret. When activated, a column of steam rises from the stones set into the ground and covers the field with mist.
The sculpture was inspired by a similar type of steam vent that was on campus for a functional purpose. In 1971, there was an exposed pipe that would release steam. The concept of that influenced the sculpture.
This area of the sculpture garden contains four installations and Morris’ work adds to the effect of the others. Nancy Holt said Morris’ sculpture made hers more eerie and surreal.
“The Man Who Used to Hunt Cougars for Bounty” by Richard Beyer
Seattle artist Richard Beyer installed a sculpture outside of the Wilson Library entrance. The sculpture depicts a man who used to hunt cougars as a job — a way of life. The story that inspired the sculpture describes a man and a cougar drinking together. Then, they both begin singing in unison and embracing each other. The artist etched in a bottle of whisky on the man’s back. The shape of the work sparked a lot of debate on campus regarding the suggestive meaning of the two bodies.
“Cause and Effect” by Do Ho Suh
Inside the Academic Instructional Center West hangs hundreds of intertwined figurines. Hanging lowest is a single figurine painted the most intense red, and as the eye travels up the sculpture, the groups of figurines grow in immense sizes until there is a plethora of figures. The sculpture hangs down two stories in the building and represents the coexistence between a single entity and groups of them.
“The work is an attempt to decipher the boundaries between a single identity and a larger group, and how the two conditions coexist,” the artist said.
In addition to the pieces described, Western is home to many more sculptures. Next time you find yourself on campus with a few minutes to spare, see how many you can find.