Artist Maurice Agis, 76, creator of Dreamspace, has been charged with manslaughter after his huge sculpture caught wind, flew 20m off the ground and flipped over trapping visitors inside. The incident killed two and injured numerous others. The Australian | Via
6 Comments
yowza! manslaughter.
Manslaughter? Really? That seems a bit harsh....
at what point does an artist's work get big enough that he has to pay attention to the same liability issues that an architect does? this sculpture was certainly large enough that it should (and maybe did) undergo a wind analysis, an analysis of how it might collapse, of how emergency egress could be handled, etc.
it's bigger than a lot of buildings that have to go through these analyses. ultimately it was occupiable space open to the general public.
manslaughter does seem harsh, but if the above things were NOT considered, or not considered in a suitably professional way, the artist was definitely acting irresponsibly - and people were killed or injured.
if it's determined that all the normal building-safety analyses were performed, that he met any expectations of typical occupiable built space, i hope he's exonerated.
despite the 250k people that went through it, if the artist could have saved it from 'taking off' by grabbing a single rope, then there were not enough safety measure, imo.
I doubt that one person grabbing a single rope could have done anything but gotten that person into a dangerous situation...
I'd blame the local authorities as much as Mr. Agis for failing to properly design the anchorage or inspect the installation for safety.
Remember, Christo and Jean-Claude's "Umbrellas" killed a woman in California when one of the umbrellas was pulled from the ground in a gust of wind, as well as one of the workers who was deconstructing the exhibit when it came into contact with a high-voltage line. This story seems to be eerily reminiscent of that.
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.