Answer Man: On our walk by the recycling center on North Franklin Avenue we were shocked to see one of the brown statues from downtown on its back with a tow strap around its neck and thighs. It looks like a possible racist incident. Presumably, the city was informed and collected it. But to leave it with the tow strap still wrapped around its neck is pretty horrifying.
— Paul Schaefer, of Springfield
It is not a racist incident and the sculpture is not being recycled, which I imagine would have made renowned Iceland artist Steinunn Thorarinsdóttirt rather upset.
Springfield, MO: Where we turn art into scrap metal!
Instead, the sculpture, part of an exhibition called “Borders,” is going to be repaired because it was vandalized.
When I went to see for myself four days after your email, Paul, the sculpture was exactly where you said it would be at the recycling center — but there was no strap around the neck.
Sadly, two of these 22 androgynous sculptures — placed in the downtown area as part of Sculpture Walk Springfield — have been vandalized.
They weigh between 500 and 600 pounds. City of Springfield employees used the straps to move the sculptures to the recycling center for repair.
3 acts of vandalism in less than a month
From what I could see, the cast-iron figure had been forcefully removed from the stand where it had been displayed.
The city's Environmental Services division oversees recycling. The city's Public Works Department helps with Sculpture Walk Springfield.
People from Public Works will fix the sculpture, with the assistance of an employee from the recycling center.
The “Borders” exhibit was installed in April. It will be in Springfield for at least two years, according to Sculpture Walk Springfield, a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing cultural vibrancy by installing outdoor sculptures.
With three acts of vandalism in less than a month, let me rephrase that: It will be in Springfield for at lease two years — provided we don't destroy it.
Colleague Jeff Kessinger described Sculpture Walk Springfield's process of selection and installation in a May 21 story.
Two caught and charged with vandalism
Bridget Bechtel, executive director of Sculpture Walk Springfield, explained to me via email what's been going on.
“We have experienced three incidents of our ‘Borders' sculptures being knocked over and broken off the steel plates that anchor them since their installation,” she wrote.
The sculpture “at the crosswalk by the Discovery Center has been affected twice. In the first incident, two individuals were caught and charged with vandalism. In the subsequent two instances, we believe the sculptures were rocked back and forth until the all-thread broke from the feet of the sculpture,” Bechtel wrote.
“The perpetrators left the sculptures in place, as they are quite heavy and have no ‘scrap' value. I have filed a police report for the most recent incident and hope the camera outside of 505 will provide some insight.”
505 is an apartment complex at 505 E. St. Louis St.
“As for the third incident, it occurred on the Expo lawn, and we do not have a police report for it as I am unsure when it happened.”
The Springfield Expo Center is at 635 St. Louis St.
At this point, I'm tempted to say, “And that's why Springfield can't have nice things.”
Some have been ‘too familiar' with statues
But I did some research on the artist and the “Borders” exhibit.
Thorarinsdóttirt, the artist, did a question-and-answer interview in 2017 with Country Roads magazine. The exhibit was about to go on display in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
It consists of 11 pairs of sculptures — each pair consisting of one silver piece made of aluminum and one brown made of cast iron. They were made from 2009 to 2011 and first exhibited in 2011.
“They are opposing materials, heavy and light, heaven and earth, portraying the opposites in life,” the artist said in that story. “These opposing materials are united by the form, which is the same within each pair.”
Here's what makes me think there has been vandalism in the past, at other locations. In the story, she also says:
“People engage with them without fear and feel that they can approach them, which, to me, is such an important part of public art. The figures are neutral, amorphous beings, they could be you and they could be me. ... A few times people have become too familiar with them! But those are exceptions, and normally the public is very respectful of the works.”
This is Answer Man column No. 77.
