Caltech Art Proposal a Lightning Rod

At Caltech--a school with courses like Computation Theory and Neural Systems--it might seem as if students and faculty are far too busy studying the problems of the universe to get involved in the fate of a simple sculpture. But not when it’s “Vectors,” the proposed $2-million work by Richard Serra.

For some, the piece--a series of zigzagging panels--is an exciting new work by a preeminent artist. For others, it’s a 240-foot obstacle that will invite defacement and interrupt Frisbee games.

Either way, said biology professor David Kremer at a meeting Tuesday for students, faculty, staff and neighbors to discuss the project, “Vectors” is “confrontational and controversial. That’s the most effective part of this piece. The discussion will be a first-rate art lesson.”

Indeed, “Vectors,” part of a series based on walls rising out of sloping hillsides that Serra has been assembling since 1970, seemed to engender strong feelings among the 200 or so in attendance, only two of whom spoke in support of the sculpture.

Speakers offered colorful descriptions of the piece, which would be constructed out of 3-inch-thick steel slabs and rise from ground level to a height of 8 feet as it crisscrosses the sloping lawn outside Beckman Institute: “a big hunk of rusting metal,” “an irresistible balance beam” and, anticipating the actions of neighborhood dogs, “the largest fire hydrant in the city.”

They seemed to agree that the piece, while it might evoke many things, is certainly not, in their view, representative of a vector.

“‘Vectors,’ despite its scientific name, is a wall,” said former Caltech Provost Jack Roberts. “Walls are symbolic of suspicion, mistrust, hiding, secrecy, a need for secrecy.... Caltech stands for none of those things.”

An eight-member Institute Art Committee, composed of faculty and staff members, last year chose Serra to construct a piece of monumental art near its almost-complete Broad Center for Biological Sciences, along Wilson Avenue.

The Caltech master plan dictates that 1% of funds from construction of buildings of a certain size be set aside for public art, but only about 10% of the cost of the Serra sculpture will come from that allocation. Caltech officials said the rest will be given by private donors--including philanthropist Eli Broad, for whom the Broad Center is named.

The project still awaits final approval from Caltech President David Baltimore and the Pasadena Arts Commission, expected to rule on the design in July.

Brian Sisk, a graduate student in chemistry, complained at the meeting that “students were not contacted” in the design process and said that “with very little effort” he had collected 315 signatures on a petition condemning the sculpture.

“Students represent two-thirds of the campus,” Sisk said. When they aren’t consulted about decisions, he said, “this ceases to become a school and becomes a factory or corporation.”

Other attendees questioned the safety of such an installation, which would bisect the lawn and prevent the kind of free-form Frisbee games some Caltech students like to engage in. Some worried about children who might play on or near the structure. One female graduate student worried that the wall was tailor-made for a mugger to hide behind.

Stacey Walker Boland, a second-year graduate student in mechanical engineering, had another concern. At a school where students are renowned for a tendency to use their genius for sometimes nefarious purposes, “normally sane people are already trying to think of ways to deface” the sculpture, she said.

“How many graduate students will have to go to jail?” she wondered.

Robert A. Rosenstone, a professor of history who has chaired the Institute Art Committee for more than a decade, said it never occurred to committee members when they were commissioning the piece a year ago that it would provoke such an outcry in the Caltech community.

Once they saw the model a few weeks ago, Rosenstone said, “We expected that there would be some questioning of and resistance to the piece, both on artistic grounds and sight.” The committee scheduled the forum to address those concerns.

Rosenstone said the Institute Art Committee, along with Caltech’s public relations office, would assemble notes and concerns voiced at the meeting to give to Baltimore, who was unavailable for comment Tuesday and could not make the meeting because of a scheduling conflict.

Hall P. Daily, Caltech’s assistant vice president and director of government and community relations, said after the meeting that he was heartened by the interest in the Serra sculpture.

“This is a campus that is very heavily focused on science and engineering, as its title suggests; after all, it’s the California Institute of Technology. I think it’s very refreshing to see such articulate and interested voices being raised on an issue of arts and culture. It shows another side of Caltech.”