http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sculpturepark/ en-us © 2007 The Seattle Times An audio tour of the Olympic Sculpture Park The Seattle Times Join Seattle Times Art Critic Sheila Farr as she gives a tour of the new Olympic Sculpture Park, which transformations undeveloped waterfront and industrial sites into a world-class showcase for outdoor art. The nine-acre downtown park opened with 22 sculptures — some permanent and some temporary — cited along a zig-zagging plan. Join Seattle Times Art Critic Sheila Farr as she gives a tour of the new Olympic Sculpture Park, located along Seattle's waterfront. Robert Hernandez/The Seattle Times rhernandez@seattletimes.com Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 01/20 You can begin your tour of the Olympic Sculpture Park at the pavilion or return later for a snack at the cafe, to use the restrooms and to browse the temporary exhibitions. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/01_Introduction_and_Pavilion_with_temporary_pieces.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:20 GMT 1:12 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 02/20 What's there to see in a huge fan shape of rusted steel? The obvious part is the simple geometry of the form and the beautiful contrast of materials, rusted metal against raw concrete. But if you think about it, there's a whole progression of art history behind that simplicity. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/02_Curve_XXIV_by_Ellsworth_Kelly.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:19 GMT 1:08 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 03/20 If it weren't for the glossy manufactured material you might easily mistake Roxy Paine's life-size and lifelike stainless steel tree for one of the hundreds of real trees growing in the park. Except that, for Paine's tree, winter lasts all year: It will never leaf out. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/03_Split_by_Roxy_Paine.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:18 GMT 1:16 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 04/20 Anthony Caro is probably the most influential 20th-century British sculptor. He was knighted by the queen in 1987. Early in his career, he worked as an assistant to the great Henry Moore, an artist well-known in Seattle for his curvy bronze sculpture "Vertebrae." Caro went beyond Moore. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/04_Riviera_by_Anthony_Caro.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:17 GMT 1:13 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 05/20 Walking among the five massive components of this 300-ton sculpture, you might get a little twinge of danger and awe — like you'd feel walking along a steep mountain ridge or next to an enormous ship. This is art you have to get next to and experience, not just look at across the field — although I must say, it looks pretty good that way, too. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/05_Wake_by_Richard_Serra.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:16 GMT 2:19 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 06/20 Nevelson was the grand dame of 20th century sculpture. She died in 1988, and in 2000 her work was honored in a series of five 33-cent postage stamps. As a sculptor, she's best known for her intricate assemblages of wood — like shallow boxes stacked with cut-out shapes. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/06_Sky_Landscape_I_by_Louise_Nevelson.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:15 GMT 0:49 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 07/20 Beverly Pepper started her career as a commercial artist in New York before shifting to painting and sculpture. "Perre's Ventaglio III" is an early work from the 1960s, and its title seems to be geared to insiders. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/07_Perres_Ventagio_III_by_Beverly_Pepper.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:14 GMT 1:23 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 08/20 This monolithic cast bronze sculpture references the Greek myth of Persephone, who was abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld. Her mother Demeter, goddess of agriculture, neglected the earth and its crops as she mourned for her daughter. Eventually Persephone was allowed to return to her native land for part of each year, symbolizing the change from winter to the renewal of spring. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/08_Persephone_Unbound_by_Beverly_Pepper.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:13 GMT 0:50 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 09/20 In 1960, while working part time as a welder and crane operator, Mark di Suvero broke his back. He spent two years in a wheelchair recovering and was still having a tough time getting around in 1965 when Virginia ("Jinny") and Bagley Wright commissioned him to do a piece for their garden. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/09_Bunyons_Chess_by_Mark_di_Suvero.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:12 GMT 2:39 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 10/20 For the past few years, at its temporary home outside the Seattle Asian Art Museum, "Eagle" seemed awkward and out of scale. But here, perched on high ground at the sculpture park, the 39-foot-tall artwork looks perfect, its wings spread to the wind. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/10_Eagle_by_Alexander_Calder.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:11 GMT 1:51 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 11/20 Roy McMakin is a designer and craftsman who also holds his own as a conceptual artist. In McMakin's hands even the most basic, functional chair will usually include some delightful twist. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/11_Bench_by_Roy_McMakin.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:10 GMT 0:56 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 12/20 I love the way this piece looks here — like a wild-haired kid on a runaway unicycle! It's probably natural to anthropomorphize such an odd-looking object: something those who grew up on computers might not recognize. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/12_Typewriter_Eraser_Scale_X_by_Claes_Oldenburg.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:09 GMT 1:46 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 13/20 These five geometric forms of painted steel are nicely situated here along the path through a grove of quaking aspens. The artist saw them as a sort of homage to the famous Zen rock garden at Ryoanji in Kyoto, Japan. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/13_Wandering_Rocks_by_Tony_Smith.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:08 GMT 1:05 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 14/20 What did Smith have in mind when he called this piece "Stinger?" There used to be a trendy cocktail by that name, and Smith's take on the drink was that it goes down easily, but "comes around and nips you in the back of the neck." It's an apt description of the scorpionlike curve of this open-ended geometric form. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/14_Stinger_by_Tony_Smith.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:07 GMT 1:41 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 15/20 This glass bridge-adornment was commissioned from Fernandez, who was born in Miami and now lives in New York. Fernandez received a MacArthur Foundation "genius" fellowship in 2005. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/15_Seattle_Cloud_Cover_by_Teresita_Fernandez.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:06 GMT 0:52 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 16/20 In this installation, McMakin points out quite literally the place where love and loss intersect, and leads us to think about the emotional extremes that branch out from there. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/16_Love_and_Loss_by_Roy_McMakin.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:05 GMT 1:06 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 17/20 This lyrical di Suvero sculpture is familiar to music lovers in Seattle. Before being installed at the Sculpture Park, "Schubert Sonata" was on view outside Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/17_Schubert_Sonata_by_Mark_di_Suvero.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:04 GMT 0:43 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 18/20 When the Seattle Art Museum commissioned Louise Bourgeois to do a major fountain for the Olympic Sculpture Park, the artist added these functional sculptures as her gift to the park. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/18_Eye_Benches_I_II_III_by_Louise_Bourgeois.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:03 GMT 0:37 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 19/20 This fountain had an odd origin. It's the result of a million-dollar bequest to the city of Seattle from the late Stu Smailes. Smailes made his gift with the stipulation that it be spent for a fountain featuring one or more realistic nude male figures. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/19_Father_and_Son_by_Louise_Bourgeois.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:02 GMT 1:28 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Times Track 20/20 Mark Dion is an artist who pushes the definition of that word. He is known for works that can seem to be more about archaeology or nature than traditional art-making. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/sculpturepark/audio/20_Neukom_Vivarium_by_Mark_Dion_and_epilogue.mp3 Sun, 14 Jun 2007 00:01:01 GMT 3:14 Art, audio tour, Seattle, The Seattle Times, seattletimes.com, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle Art Museum