Richard Serra's "Tilted Arc" that ended up being removed from its location in New York City and declared dead by the artist versus Andy Goldsworthy's arctic ice rings. One work, when it is removed, is physically the same (though perhaps conceptually it is dead or even functionally as the piece existed to impede the flow of traffic), while the other, Goldsworthy's ice sculptures and land art could not be removed or relocated as they are about a time in space, a moment, a place, the exact material of the Arctic itself.
My own work, then, is not as site-specific as I would have originally imagined.
Nonetheless, the piece did have an important relationship to the space in which it was installed. "Ascending Village" is installed on three levels of the stairwell, lining the inner banister. These exist as brief moments on each landing, where my house sculptures are incorporated into a slowly changing landscape of foliage. The piece is about mankind's aspiration towards ascending, towards perfection, and how that concept is flawed. Humanity tries to ascend and to build themselves up, but as we do, our pride and nature consume us and we are destroyed. On the other hand, as humanity humbles itself, we are built up in love and edified. This is the purpose behind the stairwell. As one moves up, the village burns down, and as one moves down the steps, the village miraculously recreates itself.
Site specific or no, I had a blast with this installation, and I will continue to muse on the limitless possibilities of sculpture in the expanded field.[1]
"When pride comes, then comes shame;
But with the humble is wisdom."
Proverbs 11:2
[1] Rosalind Krauss
http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=O162-2870%28 197921%298%3C30%3ASITEF%3E2.O.C0%3B2-Y