Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc was by far the artist’s most controversial public art installation. It was displayed in Foley Federal Plaza, downtown New York from 1981 to 1989. At 120-feet long and 12-foot high, the rust-covered plate has had such a strong presence as it cut across the plaza, altering and rupturing everyday workers’ movements.
The people of New York absolutely despised it!
Tilted Art was not inspiring to the workers in the building as according to Serra’s intentions. They complained about the artwork blocking the view and the “ugly” material used, which attracted graffiti and litter around the plaza. The large scale work overwhelmed the space, and its tilt appeared as if it would fall over (though it was embedded in the concrete). Opposing safety threats, people thought the work could enable mugging, or even possible bombing due to its ability to conceal the site.
Added controversy was due to the fact that it had been commissioned ($175,000 in 1979) and installed with government funds, and four years later, a public hearing was held to consider the sculpture’s removal from its site. In defence of the artwork, a trial was held: politicians and community members versus Richard Serra and other artists. This amplified the conversation on the role of public art, and the role of the government and its people shaping public visual environment.
The verdict: After 3 days of hearing and 4,500 complaints from federal employees and locals residents, Serra’s Tilted Arc was to be removed from the site.
The New York Times wrote that it was a victory for the public, yet Serra had initially refused. To relocate it from its site specific space meant that it had to be gone completely, since the artwork had completely surrendered to its context: class conflict. The way that the Tilted Arc was designed in relation to the Capitalism of Wall Street and the meaning around the site was powerful— so to remove it from the site meant that it was destroyed.
He was a strong defender of this modernist approach when under attack, commenting “I think the notion of people finding one material ugly and another non-ugly really has to do with the corporate media indoctrination…”
In 1989, the Tilted Arc was removed from its location and dislodged into 3 pieces. Today, the sections are stored in a storage space in Maryland. And although the physical component of the work is safe, it will never be displayed again due to the artist’s wish regarding its site specificity.
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