Buddha’s Eye

Detail of a Buddha sculpture from the Art Museum of Amarillo.

VORTEX, Richard Serra, 2002

VORTEX/Richard Serra, digital print, 2009, -Mark Scantling

I admit when it initially went up, I did not care for Richard Serra‘s VORTEX. At first, I was reminded of farm yard scrap piles filled with the rusted twisted iron, and discarded plows, tractors and pickups along Highway 380, between Tahoka and Brownfield in far west Texas. VORTEX, made of 2 inch thick warped and twisting steel, hurls itself 67 feet, 10 inches into the Fort Worth sky beside Tadao Ando’s shinny new Modern with it’s straight clean lines. I cringed each time I drove by it for months. I now must admit, it seduced me. I can’t visit the museum without walking around, and stepping inside to listen to the soft echoes visitors make. It grows on you. Other than the obvious danger, I think it would be thrilling to experience a thunder and lightening show inside Vortex.

- Mark