 Jaumie Plensa  Ginny Ruffner | 3 new pieces at Olympic Sculpture Park: How do they fit in? - Published in Seattle Times, August 22, 2014 Neither the title "Echo," (in a vague nod to Greek mythology), nor the pose, (meditative, eyes closed), nor the odd, highly original vertical distortion to which the head has been subjected, help us quite sort out what drama this appealing and slightly disturbing creature is meant to be enacting. Up until now monumental heads were reserved for gods and emperors; perhaps Plensa sees "Echo" as a sort of Spanish Buddha, made even more unworldly by her computer-generated stretching, which gives the impression of an apparition in progress. The downside? There isn’t a single trace of an artist’s hand in the giant nymphet’s robotically shaped and polished surface, arbitrarily crossed by horizontal seams. |
