Tilted Arc - How a Hunk of Metal can be Surprisingly Controversial
Tilted Arc - Richard Serra 1981 Aerial view Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc , to this day, is one the most famous removed public art installations from the 20 th century. The artwork consisted of a 120-foot long, 12-foot high solid, unfinished plate of rust-covered COR-TEN steel. Once installed in New York City’s Federal Plaza in 1981, it stood tall for 8 years until it was voted by the public to be torn down. In my opinion, Tilted Arc was so far ahead of its time because it completely eradicated all sense of familiarity and convenience for the people that were forced to interact with it. It was this massive, obtrusive sheet of metal that was inconvenient to walk around. People saw it as an eyesore, unintelligently designed for the space, and abnormally large for an art piece. It aroused great antipathy in an era that was unaccustomed to such bold displays of artistic, site-specific intervention. At...
