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Fort Worth's Modern Art Museum: Where the Rust Begins |
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Static Daring Dandruff Static loves modern art, especially those live construction workers and the Cyclone fence around Vortex, the vertical Richard Serra sculpture threatening the sky (1) above the new Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth. What you think is just a plain old fence is actually a statement on modern art's inaccessibility. And the construction workers: They're letting viewers in on the process of modern art. As a stroke of neo-conceptual inspiration, this set-up is pure genius. But the people at the Modern won't take credit for it: they say the fence is there to keep people off the floor stones inside the sculpture. See, heavy foot traffic (2) has loosened some of those stones from their plastic support columns. So until the large men in hard hats and work boots finish replacing those plastic columns with formed concrete, the fence will be keeping the unwashed (basically, all of us) from experiencing the nearly 68-foot Twizzler bite. This makes Static a sad panda. One thing Museum folks stressed to Static is that the fence, contrary to popular rumor (3), is not there to keep people from being hit with falling rust chips (4). Vortex is supposed to rust (and Museum personnel are supposed to continuously clean up what is shed). Made of Corten steel, the massive construct will slowly lose its skin to oxidation, changing from its current burnt-orange to a deep brown. Museum spokesperson Susan Rogers said that Vortex will probably achieve its patina in about a year. The rust is part of the art. Again, pure genius.(5) |
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Here we see a large chunk of rust, a product of the natural patina producing aging of this large metallic experiment in controlled chaos. Some of the chunks of rust are quite large. Laying on the ground. The rust chunks are easily broken into smaller pieces. It can be assumed that the rust chunks on the ground are the shattered remnants of larger pieces which fell from varying heights. There is no way to know how large these rust chunks may be when they break loose. It can also be assumed that, so far, only the ground has broken a rust chunk's fall and that so far a large rust chunk hasn't shattered into smaller pieces after hitting a person. |
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And now we see that same large chunk of rust in the photo above, landing on a hand. Now imagine this as a ground bound projectile falling from the top of this 68 foot decomposing health hazard. Imagine this chunk landing on a baby in a stroller, the baby's parents looking up, admiring the 'sculpture' not realizing that they were in the Vortex of Danger. |
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(.2 oz./6.76)(144 sq. in./sq. ft.)(1 lb./16 oz.)(10489.94 sq. ft.) = 2793 lbs. of rust
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A little chunk of rust easily removed. Technically a human hand is part of Mother Nature, so this act is not disturbing the natural patina achieving process. Would you like to have a chunk of rust of this size land in your eye as you gaze skyward, not gazing at the threatening sky as FW Weekly described, but at the threatening sculpture that these photos so clearly show? | |
The growing pile of fallen rust. Contrary to what the Museum spokesperson claims it would seem the only cleanup being accomplished is by the winds of the same Mother Nature who is working so hard to help the sculpture achieve its patina. | |
Here you can gaze skyward, virtually, as this photo looks towards the top of the Vortex of Danger, from inside, standing on the apparently recovered floor stones which are now guarded by sawhorses easily thwarted. You can see at the top of the Vortex the gathering danger of fresh chunks of rust preparing to fall, preferably benignly to join the growing mess on the ground, preferably not to land on some tender spot on an innocent museum goer. It would seem at least a warning sign should put in place, saying something like, 'Art is Meant to be Challenging, and this Art is Meant to be Dangerous. Look Skyward with Extreme Caution. Hard Hats & Protective Goggles Available at Museum Information Desk' |
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Here we see the chain link fence which supposedly protected the floor stones while they were repaired and which mysteriously coincided with large piles of rust somehow ending up on the ground. However, despite the temporary lessening of chunks of rust, fresh corrosion is making a new batch of projectiles, soon to be finding their way ground ward as part of this year long patina achieving process. |
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An overview of the Vortex sculpture and the new Modern Art Museum on the day the chain link fence was in place. |
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A line of unsuspecting art lovers make their way into the Vortex of Danger. | |
In this photo we see a group of museum visitors enjoy hearing the echoes inside the Vortex of Danger, unaware that looming overhead are large pieces of metal which could come plummeting earthward at any moment, a plummeting possibly caused by the oblivious-to-danger museum visitor's joyful echoes possibly loosening a menacing snow-like rust avalanche of heavy metal. | |
Here we see, far above the blissfully unaware ground level echo causers, large blisters of rusted metal, looking as if they could come loose and fall at any moment. | |
A large chunk of rust readying itself for its inevitable detachment from this decomposing sculpture, like a giant blemish on an acne plagued teenager's face. Where might this popped pimple land? | |
Is this the rust chunk in its final resting place? Atop an innocent art lover's head? Was this painful? Was any tissue damaged? Have the lawyers been summoned? | |
We brought in an engineer to examine the Vortex of Danger. Here we see him examining the welds which hold the rusting monolith together. The engineer's comments were not reassuring. It would seem some sort of warning sign would be very apropos, it is tornado season afterall.... | |
This very young art lover is demonstrating the safest way to visit the interior of the Vortex of Danger. Because the walls lean inward, chunks of rust plummeting onto visitors from high above land towards the interior of the space; thus bracing oneself up against the interior wall is slightly safer. | |
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Totally un-rust-related, the following are 3 views from inside the Modern Museum, in front of which the Vortex of Danger stands guard. |
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It is not known if this work of art is called the Ladder to the Vortex of Danger. Or what. | |
The interior of the Modern Museum has floor to ceiling windows which look across a pond providing the most attractive view of beautiful downtown Fort Worth available. | |
It is not known if this 'Car Wash' sign is an art installation or not. It is visible from inside the museum. It may be an Andy Warhol work. Or Roy Lichenstein. Or maybe it is just a Car Wash sign. Modern Art is so difficult to understand sometimes. | |
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