Saturday, November 1, 2014

Photo of the Day: Maya Lin’s ‘Wavefield,’ Storm King Art Center, NY



A sign pleads with viewers to “Please help us preserve” this environmental artwork by Maya Lin, the famed architect-designer of the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in DC—this only five years after the installation of Wavefield at Storm King Art Center in upstate NY.

The other day, my post about Roy Lichtenstein’s Mermaid discussed one of the more than 100 outdoor sculptures at Storm King. I’m afraid that Wavefield is already in much more fragile condition than Mermaid or the other works on art on these sprawling grounds. 

The sign on the site indicates that walking is not permitted “due to the recent rainfall.” But, as you can see, there is another, more pervasive cause: the encroachment of masses of people on the four acres of this environmental reclamation project.  (At one time, it was a gravel pit.)

I urge any interested readers to go now to see these seven rows of rolling waves of earth and grass. It’s hard for security to be everywhere on Storm King’s nearly 500 acres, so, from what I saw on my visit this past Sunday, people have taken to walk on Lin's work with impunity.

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