Balanced/Unbalanced Beam - Nashville, TN
Posted by: 
Raven
N 36° 08.581 W 086° 48.124
16S E 517806 N 3999829
One of many sculptures within Fletcher's "Balanced/Unbalanced" series, this one is located in front of the Eskind Biomedical Library at Vanderbilt University.
Waymark Code: WMZ43E
Location: Tennessee, United States
Date Posted: 09/07/2018
Views: 8
This metal sculpture was donated by its artist -- Fletcher Benton -- to Vanderbilt University in 1980.
Simply known as "Balanced/Unbalanced Beam", Benton's work entails both a painter's capacity to "see" and a sculptor's capacity to function in three-dimension. The sculptor usually created his work in paper first, then in metal-- but at a miniature scale. He would then test it to see if it "works" (sometimes for weeks!), then give it to his studio assistants to be fabricated in larger scale.
Once the artist was fully pleased with the capacity of the work to "hold" in three-dimensional space, Benton would then add color, which -- for him -- was just a nicety, as his work was in no way dependent upon its final color for its strength or substance.
Often architectonic in scale, The "Balanced / Unbalanced" works by Fletcher Benton are powerful and complex.
Visit Instructions:
Please provide another photo of the location. You don't have to be in there shot, but you can. The photo requirement is to discourage any armchair visiting.