Associate Dean of the College/Dean of Students, Julianne Ohotnicky, and Director and Chief Curator at the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA), Jessica Nicoll, sent an email to the student body regarding damage to the outdoor sculpture installations on Oct. 25. “Orb” by Bronwyn Oliver and “Terpsichore” by Clement Meadmore have both been decorated with damaging adhesives.
While both were created to be outdoor sculptures and are therefore durable, the use of adhesives has removed the patinated finish on “Terpsichore” in places and left it more vulnerable to the elements. Duct tape on “Orb” has caused similar damage, though not to the same extent. There have also been instances of students climbing “Terpsichore,” which can damage the sculpture and poses a risk of injury to the student doing it. As such, the college asked that students stop decorating the sculpture entirely.
Even if they are not causing damage, though, Nicholl said that the decorations must be removed. “This is because museums, universities and other places that care for artworks are not just responsible for the physical object; artists and the general public alike entrust museums to care for the ideas that the artist hoped to convey in making and sharing their work,” she said. “Museums have an ethical and legal obligation to present artworks in ways that, whenever possible, are truthful to an artist’s intent and, when that isn’t possible, are transparent about those discrepancies.”
“I do not believe that anyone who decorated the sculptures intended harm or disrespect, especially because when students returned to campus this fall, there was no readily available information about the new sculptures,” she continued.
“In general I think the whole situation is a little silly,” said one student who works at the museum, but preferred to remain anonymous. “It was silly for students to double down and use more powerful adhesives, but it was also silly that the college had to send out an email subtly threatening the entire student body over some googly eyes. I think it’s great that students were having a good time with the sculptures, and I’m sure nobody had any bad intentions–we are all college students after all!”
However, there is ostensibly a gap between the intent of the students vandalizing the sculptures and the impact of their actions. As Nicoll pointed out, the “good time” that the students are having is permanently damaging the sculptures. “The surfaces of these sculptures–their coloration and texture–are an integral component of the artists’ concept and design. After the sculptures were installed this summer, an art conservator was hired to clean them and apply a protective coating,” she said. “Adhesives have removed that protective coating in areas and damaged the surface of the sculptures; the surfaces have also been scratched. While conservation can reduce the appearance of damage it will never return the sculptures to their original state and it is very expensive.”
The vandalism is also affecting museum staff and visitors who come to Smith campus to see the artwork. Gina Hall, the educator for School & Family Program at the SCMA, was running an outdoor sculpture walk on Seelye Lawn on Sunday, Oct. 24 for families when she found out that “Orb” had been defaced. “At the start of a tour for children, I always emphasize the importance of respecting and protecting the work of artists, and not climbing or damaging the art in any way,” she said. “While I normally deeply appreciate whimsy and creative response, the decorations on the sculpture were disruptive to the experience that these families had signed up for that day. It provided a really bad model for children on how to interact with art. Our program was totally derailed in that moment and it feels like these little interventions have really escalated into something that is not funny or considerate of others.”
“Making art and putting it out in the world–whether that artwork takes the form of a sculpture, poem, film, or anything else–requires both courage and a desire to connect with the world beyond an artist’s immediate environment,” said Nicoll. “We can dislike an artwork–this happens all the time–and we should debate its interpretation–such debate drives scholarship–but to apply materials to a work unilaterally changes the work physically and conceptually without the artist’s consent. When it is not clear that changes have been made and by whom, a viewer may assume they are seeing the artwork as intended by the artist. This can result in the artwork and artist’s ideas being misrepresented and misunderstood and it may have consequences for Smith’s current and future collaborations with living artists.”
“I’m personally of the opinion that the Western art world is often too stuffy and removed from reality and I wish people had more chances to interact with public art,” said the same anonymous student. “However, I do recognize that artists as individuals have specific visions that may not include googly eyes and scarves. It’s a tricky balance to strike.”
The student had some suggestions for administrators if they decide to put up more public art. “I really loved how students wanted to interact with the sculptures, and although it was a nuisance to the museum, I definitely had a good chuckle when I saw the balloons inside the orb on mountain day–it was all in good fun. I think this spirit of interacting with art should be fostered by the college rather than stamped out. It would be great if in the future they selected artworks that can be interacted with in fun ways … I hope the college recognizes the opportunity presented here and displays sculptures in the future that can survive some well-intentioned (and very funny) additions. It’s a college campus; if you put a giant orb by the library, of course students are going to mess around with it!”
“Orb” was created by Oliver in 2003, three years before her death. It is meant to look like the veins of leaves and inspire conversations about life, energy and the human response to nature. Meadmore’s “Terpsichore” is named after the Greek muse of dancing and is an abstract representation of two dancing figures. Both were commissioned by and later bequests of the late Jill Ker Conway, the first female president of Smith.
