Letter to Riverside Press-Enterprise responding to criticism of the new Rosati sculpture placed next to the recently dedicated Riverside City Hall.
To the editor:
Having viewed and studied the new sculpture by James Rosati at the south end of the Riverside Civic Mall, I understand why it has been impossible for the general public to appreciate the sculpture from the models submitted in the architectural competition and from newspaper photographs of the new installation. In a fundamental sense, Rosati has not created a "sculpture" at all; rather, he has constructed an architectural structure whose primary reference is to the architectural themes of the mall itself. He intended the construction to give the viewer an experience of the essence of the Civic Mall. This objective has been brilliantly achieved, but the achievement cannot be experienced from photographs and models. Nothing less than a leisurely visit to the sculpture and Mall will do.
Given the negative criticism of the sculpture by readers of this newspaper and the unappreciative, faintly sarcastic article by T. E. Backman ("Correction: What's cadmium orange, has 3 legs and has just been unwrapped?", November 17), I would like to explain the sculpture. I do not need to defend the work of the artist. An open-minded examination will find the sculpture defending itself.
Viewers who come to the sculpture expecting to find a traditional monumental or figurative piece will not be able to understand what they do find. Western sculpture through Rodin has been primarily concerned with mass and direct definition of space by matter. Rosati's abstract sculpture deals only indirectly with mass; its references are to the extraordinary buildings that line the mall. Moreover, traditional Western sculpture was intended by most artists to be viewed from the exterior and only from one viewpoint. Rosati's sculpture, while revealing its form from the exterior, reveals its objective only when viewed from the inside, while in motion, seeing the sculpture against the background buildings, especially the new city hall. We would better understand Rosati's work if we think of it as the architectural skeleton of a building that combines architectural features from several nearby buildings. Just like a building, the sculpture is to be walked through and experienced from the inside, with framed views of the outside urbanscape, as well as to be seen - looked into - from the outside.
Rosati's purpose has been to synthesize into a single form the main architectural themes of the entire mall, from the Mission Inn to the City Hall. These themes are the column and arch, the arch alone, the flying buttress, the cantilever overhang, and the arcade. Rosati has even woven these themes together in a way that resembles Riverside's famous Indian rain symbol.
The sculpture is composed of three independent column-and-arches, each of which touches the mall floor. The tops of two column-and-arches bow onto the third to create a tripod. Rosati has subtly hinted at his intention of unifying juxtaposed architecture by having the three columns only touch one another, rather than interlock. The resulting figure is stable by itself and suggests the artist's opinion of the stability of the architecture of the Mall. These columns and arches mimic the main theme of Riverside's Spanish revival architecture dominating the old downtown, implied in the style of University of California, Riverside, and treated in numerous private buildings and homes. Indeed, they hint at the ubiquitous Spanish-style tile roofing. The roofing is alternatively inverted little arches. The theme of the arch alone is repeated rhythmically throughout the sculpture, both upright and upside-down. Rosati has carefully designed these arches as shallow curves to follow the form of the arches in the City Hall.
The western column is drawn out and slanted strongly to become a flying buttress. The buttress is a traditional element of European architecture, with structural purpose in Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and a decorative purpose in the Mission Inn. The building against which the flying buttress presses is not present in the sculpture, of course, but is implied by the effort of the shaft. This is what I mean by saying that the primary reference of the sculpture is to mass not actually present in the sculpture itself: the mass of the mall buildings. By putting a buttress in the sculpture, Rosati reminds us of the Mission Inn at the other end of the mall, and so brings together in one form and one moment of perception both ends of the mall. The buttress as a form is itself a variation on the column-and-arch, so Rosati has shown us how such apparently different forms as the city hall and the Inn are really variations on a theme.
The cantilever overhang appears in the sculpture as the east wind of the buttress column. This cantilever mimics one main design feature of the city hall, whose exterior walls are supported by cantilevers over the support columns of the building. Rosati has gracefully integrated the structural function of the cantilever with the flow of the shallow arches (by placing an upside-down arch at the top of the sculpture), and thereby shows us the unity of the architectural forms in the city hall.
The arcade is structurally and dynamically revealed by the openness of the sculpture. To walk inside the sculpture is to walk beneath columns and arches, just like walking through the Spanish-style arcades in the downtown and the arcade along each floor of the City Hall. Moreover, the openness of the sculpture to pedestrian traffic references the plaza level of the City Hall, which we can now understand as a broadened version of the arcade design.
The cadmium orange color (which does not carry the heavy black pigment of true red) further unifies the sculpture and exemplifies the principles of the Mall. Not only is it in the tonal range of the City Hall facade, but it is the same color as the Spanish roof tile.
Finally, Rosati has composed these themes so as to remind us of the Indian rain symbol, the city's official symbol. The three column-and-arches bend together to shape the three crosses, somewhat askew, of the rain symbol. This design is a final gesture indicating the unity of the symbol.
It is the arcade-design of the sculpture that announces the artist's intention most clearly. Rosati invites the viewer to walk in his sculpture and turn around and around, to see the design of his composition reflect the architectural features of the mall and the city hall in the background. This dynamic experience is the meaning of the sculpture. Rosati wants us to understand that our old downtown mall is not simply a place or a setting. It is an experience, a moment of consciousness of the uniqueness of our city's heart. As Rosati was quoted as saying by T. E. Foreman, the mall is "quiet and serene, a place where people can gather." As an artist, no doubt he would be happy to have people gather and converse by his sculpture, their experiences focussed at it, just as it focuses our experience of the Mall.
We should be pleased with Rosati's effort on behalf of Riverside. It was a true measure of the stature of this celebrated artist to take his commission seriously. He came to Riverside. In a brief visit, he was able to perceive the architectural unity at the heart of the city. It is likewise a measure of his capability as an artist that he was able to synthesize the architectural themes into a simple, interesting, and provocative form.
Is the sculpture "great"? I don't believe this question is important. The sculpture exemplifies the distinctiveness of Riverside, unifies its central civic plaza, and intentionally defines an experience of the city for its citizens. This sculpture would not fit anywhere else in the world. In so reminding us of what is important and unique in the city, the sculpture is worth far more than the city paid for it. It is, as the city is, priceless.
Recent Comments