She is already a tourist attraction! Now how will the sculpture hold up in the endless rain?

Being forced to think about art that is easily just enjoyed is one of the great gifts of criticism. It would be nice to be left with my general regard for this piece, but I do not resent now having that given more dimension by some discomfort.

@2
Incredible, really.

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But I wonder about this privileged white male: "He works exclusively with girls between 8 and 14 years old..."

Is there a chaperone when he "works" with them? Dontcha think that the sculpture deserves a Trigger Warning? Or a Trigger Warning for this review in fact?

When I read "He works exclusively with girls between 8 and 14 years old..."...well ya know who _I_ thought of? Mr. Lech himself: Vincent (Victor? Victim?) Nabakov. Remember "Lolita"? The book? You read parts anyway...well I wonder if Seattle isn't indirectly supporting male privilege by putting this sculpture...and in a park no less, where little female children run and play...perpetuating stereotyping of women as beautiful...giving one more opportunity for privileged straight men to do the nasty...in fact making it into a holy place of art to glorify women as, literally, objects...

Yes, I am incredibly concerned.

I agree that the title and creepy-old-man context seem ill considered (Why not just call it "Nuria" !?!), but, at the same time, when I first saw it I felt a sort of guiltily tribal pride in seeing a recognizably Asian face blown up to monumental proportions in the Americas.

Still, I guess it does carry a lot of signifier baggage, and really sort of resembles an Easter Island Moai. Hopefully not a sign we'll all slowly starve to death?

Quibble: you cannot see Mt. Olympus from Seattle. It is hidden by the front range of the Olympic Mountains - The Brothers, Jupiter (more Irony!), Constance, Anderson, etc.

But otherwise, nice critique.

Bill Gates also says "incredible" constantly. Webster's dictionary gives 2 definitions for this word. When reading such statements, I find it very enjoyable to use definition #1:

1: too extraordinary and improbable to be believed

2: amazing, extraordinary

Thanks for unpacking this, Jen.
You laid out exactly why it's so revoltingly creepy.
What's incredible to me is that SAM has insisted on foisting the damn thing on us.

More boring "art" that only becomes in any way interesting when someone applies a healthy dose of narrative on top of it all. It's a big boring head that is just a copy of some girls head. But bigger. Stupidly big. But even the bigness isn't all that interesting, so there has to be as many stories attached to it as possible. We should just start posting stories on walls and in sculpture gardens and stop bothering with the "art". No one gives a shit about the art and what it has to say (because so few are interested in what the art has to say, and the art usually has nothing to say for itself anyway), we're just waiting to hear about how the artists mother died of cancer while knitting that last hat used in the sculpture, and how the girl head model was raped. Maybe. Well. No one can be sure. But certainly there was exploitation of some sort! Man, art is so moving.....

Every piece of art -- or maybe every element of reality itself -- should have a Trigger Warning. Certainly Echo should have some explanation. (And no I am not joking.) Otherwise Echo is just another cute chickee.

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And Trigger Warnings includes music. Think about all that Bach stuff and the Christian stuff...Christ getting crucified. Pretty nasty stuff and many people would get upset thinking about a crucifixion...have you looked into the exact details of how crucification happens? Well Bach et al Trigger thoughts of Christ dying...uh...that's the point.

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So nothing ought not have a Trigger Warning somewhere to make sure that the world is filled with cruelty and despair so as to simultaneously remind us and avoid such memories.

Thanks, Jen, for so beautifully expressing something that was nagging at me about this piece, but I couldn't quite articulate it. This sculpture will now always have a much deeper meaning for me than would have been the case without your criticism. Thank you.

She was an ethereal presence here (in Madison Square Park, NY) for several months last year. She stood apart in a city full of public art. I miss her, but I'm glad she'll spend time in Seattle. Take care of her.

It's really pure kitsch, all the way down to its derivative Easter-Island-ness. Which makes SAM's pride in it all the weirder. Though I guess it's perfect for small-scale repro sales to cruise-shippers in the gift shop. Expect to see it on key rings and shot glasses soon.

I've always thought artists would do better to leave every creation untitled. I would also hope that artists can draw inspiration from children without being labeled lecherous. This sculpture was very striking and effective in Madison Square Park, surrounded by a circle of trees and large buildings; it's different to see it more isolated and highlighted there in Seattle. Hopefully it can be a good addition to the sculpture park despite the story of its mythological namesake.

#9: I have been seeing the sculpture for a couple of weeks now, before this article, and I was captivated by it. There is something hypnotic about it. But of course, if you are the phukking art-immune cretin you sound like, you WOULD call it dull.

Ovid's Metamorphoses has a different fate for Echo; she wastes away from unrequited love for Narcissus until only her voice and her bones remain, and her bones change to stone.

http://poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Lat…

Guess pedo-fountain alone wan't pervy enough for the park entrance.

I think SAM's and the mayor's excitement about this sculpture reflects an ongoing insecurity Seattle has labored under for a long time: to be taken seriously as a major player in urban America. In a nutshell, their reaction is simply this: "Look! See? We're important! We count! We got a thing another city couldn't keep, and we get to keep it!"

As to all the symbolism and post-modern deconstruction: come on. You can do a number like this on EVERY PIECE OF ART EVER CREATED. This is not to say I don't think a critique is called for or valid. I do think that beating the drum of all that's wrong in the world on occasions like this is self-serving and peevish.

The main thing I see highlighted here is Seattle's penchant for narcissism, apparently affecting all points on the socio-political spectrum. It's tiring.

Sometimes you do need to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It sounds like this piece is really a convoluted tax write off. A win for a wealthy donor. It seems ill suited to its location and a slap in the face on so many levels.

I am voiceless and I have nothing to say.

As an Art Model, I don't expect resulting artworks to ever bear my name, or even sometimes, my likeness. The model is the guide rather than the subject. The artist creates the context.

When I saw this piece I thought silent suffering. Thanks for your insights, that stretch that emotional reaction into some new avenues. What is better than that in a critique?

"Feminine Silence" can be a very strong subject in the right hands (I'm thinking Marina Abramovic's 'Rhythm 0' or Yoko Ono's 'Cut Piece') but coming from a male artist in this particular day and age, this piece also strikes me as a bit tone deaf.

In fact, I would probably even go one step further and note that a silent Asian young woman's head overlooking the waterfront may also be read as emblematic of all the actual human trafficking that happens through our ports.

Great article - thanks!

What's really INCREDIBLE is how bad this review is. This nails it: http://cityartsonline.com/articles/defen…

Very interesting background info on the sculpture. I appreciate the research done. However, I have trouble understanding your issue with the mythology and the calmness that the piece maintains. Indeed the act of deeming any human to be voiceless is vile, yet the ability to stand proud, graceful and calm after such an atrocity is show of strength and perseverance. The artist says he believes that women are the future. To me the piece communicates the duality of oppression and the overcoming of it. I really love the piece and do find it calming. It is those who have suffered and dealt with the extremities of human cruelty and who afterward had the ability to heal themselves and get past it, that have the greatest ability to lead a culture of change.