Sculpture scores a stadium home

By REBECCA BARRETT
Gazette-Times reporter

There’s little room for interpretation of artist Dennis Oppenhiem’s contribution to the front of Reser Stadium.

“It’s a giant football,” said 8-year-old Karl Weiler as he rode around Parker Plaza on his bicycle last week.

Nearby, a crew of four artisans from La Paloma Fine Arts were pouring concrete to form part of a 3,000-pound base that will secure the 40-foot aluminum skeleton of a game ball.

The piece, known as “Electric Field,” was commissioned with money set aside from the construction of the east grandstands. For 30 years, Oregon law has required 1 percent of funds for new or remodeled state facilities for the commissioning and acquisition of public art. From the direct construction costs of expanding Reser Stadium, $300,000 will pay for the materials, installation, fabrication, insurance, shipping and artist payment for “Electric Field.”

An Oregon State University selection committee, including representatives from the art and athletics departments, chose Oppenheim to create a large-scale piece for the plaza in front of the expanded stadium.

“We needed something that had a large, monumental feel,” said Meagan Atiyeh, visual arts coordinator with the Oregon Arts Commission.

Atiyeh was “really excited” to receive a proposal from a “preeminent” artist such as Oppenheim. His work is on display all over the world in public places.

“It’s very bold. Usually quite large, monumental scale. And fairly graceful,” she added.

Karl Weiler’s dad, Steve Weiler, said the piece seems to fit the atmosphere.

What else should people expect at a football stadium, wondered Steve Weiler as he stood in the shadow of the mammoth football.

In the coming weeks, the electric part of the art will be installed by a local company, Foress Sign and Manufacturing. Owner Farra Snook said he was eager to join when he heard about the project and after talking with the artist. The finished piece will depict a play with lighted shapes symbolizing the players at the line of scrimmage.

It will be most spectacular in appearance at night, because of the use of LED lights, Snook said.

“Electric Field” will shimmer and sparkle, he said.

LED illuminates like neon but uses very little electricity. The choice of metals also reflects the predicted longevity of this piece.

“It’s something that’s going to need to be there for a long time,” Snook said.

Foress has established a reputation of being “artist friendly,” Snook said, which is why they got the call to light “Electric Field.”

He’s consulted with Oppenheim about how the mechanical components will interface with the aesthetic elements. At one point, someone pointed out that a sketch of the play they were creating wasn’t even a real play.

“It’s not a playbook,” Snook clarified. “It’s art.”

So far, the reaction from people passing by has been positive, said Edan McPherson of La Paloma Fine Arts, of Sun Valley, Calif. They’ve installed art by Oppenheim before, and the scale of his work does attract attention, like the steel, acrylic, concrete and light bush shelter at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura, Calif.

A lack of criticism is a good sign, the artisan said: “A lot of places we go for installations there’s been more reactions.”

About the artist:

Dennis Oppenheim, 67, lives in New York, N.Y. He was born in Electric City, Wash., and attended California College of Arts and Crafts, where he received a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in 1965. He moved to New York in 1966, and he taught preschool school and then high school art while working toward his first single exhibition in New York, held in 1968. Oppenheim has made conceptual art, performance art, earth works, and quirky mechanical pieces, producing a wide range of sculpture. He lives and works in New York City.

ON THE NET: To see other public works of art by Dennis Oppenheim, see www.home.earthlink.net/~dennisoppenheim/

Rebecca Barrett covers public policy and education for the Gazette-Times. She can be reached at rebecca.barrett@lee.net or 758-9510.