SPACE WASTE

I don’t know why you devoted so much space to the hysterical paranoiac rantings of Richard Serra (“The Matter of Serra’s ‘Arc’ De Trauma,” by William Wilson, June 30).

It is not only in New York City that outraged people have complained about Serra’s “sculpture.” In St. Louis, where Serra’s “art” consists of nothing more than a set of plain rusted metal plates, the cry of “Who bought this?” and “Why?” also arose.

Apparently, there will always be someone, somewhere, who finds any incoherent paint droppings or random noise to be an exciting new art form , just as any mass murderer can find a legal mouthpiece to excuse and defend his acts.

Are we--taxpayers, consumers, yes, art patrons--to be blackmailed and browbeaten into buying and accepting any mound o metal as art just because the creator yells repression and censorship? Are there no standards of excellence, meaning or style left in the world of art?

I don’t blame the artist for taking the money some myopic bureaucrat throws at him. I blame the people who allow this flagrant waste of money and space, and the pseudo-art critics who laugh at the gullibility of the American public for accepting any nonsense or mediocre mess they foist as art.

Shame, America!GREGORY SENDELBACH Bellflower