feel the art

i noted below that seattle's sculpture park demigods have determined in their wisdom that we must not touch the art. it turns out that not everyone agrees. for instance:

"[I]t's so tough you can sit on it, write on it, pee on it. 'I mean you can graffiti the [bleep] out of it. There's not much you can do to hurt it.'"

so says... the sculptor. serra is the artist who created the largest piece in the park (wake). asked whether he was bothered by kids using one of his installations as a skateboard ramp, he replied:

"Look, I'm not precious about my work, " Serra said. "I think when you put it in the public, it has to survive on its own. [...] And if it's going to be seen as art, that's one thing. If it's going to be seen as an extension of a graffiti wall or a kids' playground, that's another. But neither of those offend me."

sounds like serra is down with practice. you can read more about this in the column from which i pulled these quotes, by danny westneat at the seattle times.