Richard Serra wanted passers-by to have a very different relationship to public sculpture. Imagine walking past a sculpture in a city plaza—you might see a 19th-century bronze statue of a Civil War General on horseback or a marble statue of the Greek goddess of victory atop a high pedestal. According to Serra, this is the point, "The viewer becomes aware of himself and of his movement through the plaza. This tilting is a throwback to Serra's work of the early 70's, where gravity and entropy played crucial roles. The movement materialized out of a growing disillusionment towards the commercialization of popular art. It is located in the Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan in front of the Jacob K. Javits federal office building. If the sculpture is relocated, he will remove his name from it. from and “Transcript of a Hearing to Decide the Future of Tilted Arc” 1. The piece, which measured 120 feet (36 metres) long and 12 feet (almost 4 metres)…. Upon its debut, Tilted Arc received both praise and criticism. In December 1986, Serra filed suit against the GSA for its violation of his contract for the commission, and of his First and Fifth Amendment rights. Tilted Arc not only blocks the paths of the pedestrians but also contrasts the architectural style of the square design. Detractors warned that Tilted Arc was a security hazard that blocked views of the street and could be used as a shield for terrorist attacks against the nearby government offices. Arts professionals proposed that historically important, forward-looking art always challenges the society that produces it, and so the removal of Tilted Arc would be a hasty and shortsighted act. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. Building occupants and neighborhood residents criticized the sculpture as an ugly object foisted upon the public by insensitive Government bureaucrats and a condescending art establishment. New Deal Artwork: GSA's Inventory Project, Presidential & Congressional Commissions, Boards or Small Agencies, Identity, Credentials, and Access Management. It is not for the people." The Tilted Arc The Tilted Arc was commissioned by the United States General Services Administration (GSA). Central Arguments for Tilted Arc to Remain on the Plaza. It served as a reaction against this ruthless obsession with commodification. The jury of five, chaired by William Diamond, vote 4-1 in favor of removing the sculpture. She examines the tactics of those opposed to the sculpture and the media’s superficial and sensational coverage of the controversy, reframing the dialogue in terms of public art, public space, and public policy. During the hearing, 122 people testify in favor of retaining the sculpture, and 58 testify in favor of removing it. Richard Serra famously stated “To remove the work is to destroy it”, regarding his large-scale site-specific sculpture entitled ‘Tilted Arc’, which was designed and built in 1981 in the Foley Federal Plaza in New York. Eventually, a three-day public hearing, organized by the GSA’s regional headquarters in New York, was held from March 6–8, 1985. Those against the sculpture, for the most part people who work at Federal Plaza, say that the sculpture interferes with public use of the plaza. They also accuse it of attracting graffiti, rats, and terrorists who might use it as a blasting wall for bombs. "I don't think it is the function of art to be pleasing," he comments at the time. "Art is not democratic. There are 4 ways to get from Jersey City to Tilted Arc by train, taxi or foot. Installed in 1981, the 10-foot-high, 120-foot-long curved wall of Cor-Ten self-rusting steel instantly became a … Weighing in at 73 tons it angles precariously toward the Jacob K. 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