‘Samson’ Will Likely Stay Down

After preliminary talks between Newport Harbor Art Museum and Newport Beach Fire Department officials, it appears unlikely that Chris Burden’s “Samson” will be reinstalled at the museum, according to museum director Kevin Consey.

“My sense is that it will be extremely difficult for us to proceed because of a combination of building and fire codes,” Consey said Thursday.

A turnstile connected to two massive timbers and a 100-ton jack, “Samson” used to span the entrance to the museum, where a large scale exhibit of Burden’s iconoclastic work continues through June 12. As visitors passed through, the timbers pushed against the museum’s supporting walls; Burden’s idea was that if enough people entered the museum, it would collapse.

But “Samson” was dismantled last Friday, after someone complained that it posed a safety hazard by blocking a fire exit. The component parts are now on the lobby floor, accompanied by an explanatory message from the museum.

“We would probably (take) a more aggressive and activist approach if this were at the very beginning of the exhibition rather than at the end,” Consey said. “By the time we go through the necessary (Building Department) checks, we’d be left with less than a week of the exhibition. From that point of view, it doesn’t make sense to do all that stuff.

“It’s one of those classic dilemmas. The piece poses a real legitimate public safety concern. I think it’s a question of risk management: How likely it is (to create a dangerous situation) and what the (alternatives) are to prevent it?”

Reached at his home in the Santa Monica mountains, Burden saw the situation in more urgent terms.

“I guess it’s a symptom of our overregulated bureaucratic society,” he said.

Burden said fire and building officials had been consulted before the installation of the piece, which went on view April 17. “First,” he recounted, “the Fire Department said (to raise the piece to) 6 feet, 8 inches (from the ground) and bolt it to the wall. Then they said, ‘No, no we want to meet again.’ So we met again. This time the building inspector sat in (and required proof that the piece would be secure in an earthquake) even though it’s bolted to the wall.”

Burden said that he had proposed regulating the number of people allowed to enter the museum at any given time but that officials hadn’t found that to be a sufficient safety measure.

“What scares you,” he said, “is these guys are passing an artistic judgment on it, though they would never say so publicly. . . . Basically, ‘Samson’ did not involve enough money. If we were talking about a $46-million installation, maybe they would have (worked out a solution). It’s ironic that 8,000 people have gone through (without incident).

“I think the problem is basically a societal problem. The idea that you can eliminate all risk and that you can accommodate everyone. . . . I’m disappointed.”

He said he is happy, though, that the piece remains at the museum, albeit disassembled. “I just want it there as a reminder that it’ll get put up again . . . in other museums,” he said. “By hook or crook I’m going to set it up again. I’m not saying it won’t cause problems.”

Meanwhile, further worries about what he called “the liability issue” kept Burden from appearing in an interactive video show for schoolchildren at the museum Thursday.

“I have all this stuff in my show--gunpowder, (marijuana) joints. All you have to do is hit a wrong thing and you have parents and the school board on your hands. If I say the wrong thing to these children, I could be in trouble. A child could go home to the parent and say, ‘Yeah, he showed us how to make gunpowder. I saw it on TV, Mom.’ ”