The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 165

B21, Sleuth Between Laughs! Jeffrey Schiff long journey iHNraUflJLtfjf DINNER THEATRE THE BOSTON SUNDAY GLOBE MAY 28, 1995 i or rvirs I tKY t-KUISt I 4 mm By land or by sea.enioy 1 hours of food fun and fantasy! If) ym www The artist had hoped he could express the Spiritual element' of travel. REM great woods great woods FRI-JUHE 16 1 SAT-JUNE 17 1 SUN-JUNE 18 CLAPTON RES: RES: RES: J15 $50 $55 $40 WORCESTER LAWNS LAWNS LAWNS $37-50 (42.50 $35 patriots Tickets BSCHIFF Continued from Page B17 commodate lighting and signage. It has taken until now to get rid of the metal structures and get "Destination," as Schiff calls his piece, installed in the large foyer off Dewey Square, the station's main entrance. But the story isn't over yet. Schiff says Beacon indicated that there might be someone selling flowers in a corner of the foyer.

Instead, the space is crammed with kiosks and stands selling everything from gourmet nuts to newspapers to pock-etbooks, creating visual cacophony and competing with the contemplative quality of Schiffs sculpture hanging above. Worst of all, to Schiff, the four vast granite columns that grace the space sport chintzy metal bands that support the signs for the gourmet nuts, etc. The metal belts spoil the vertical sweep of the columns; their obvious cheapness also spoils the effect of Schiffs bronze and steel sculpture above. "I hadn't anticipated the dialogue of these timeless, inexplicable forms overhead and the commercial goods below," Schiff says. Visually, it's more a war than a dialogue, and it's unclear to Schiff why the commercial activity can't be confined to the main Mill i it 1 w- I Cii Si; And don't miss i THE THREEPENNY OPEEtA Good seats available June 13 July 23! I tor and now the interim director of the Council, had been a strong Schiff advocate.

Eventually Schiff got another, Boston attorney Deborah Benson, a founder of Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts of Massachusetts, who took on his project as a pro bono case. There were also a few officials the late Charles Steward, Esther Maletz, Karen Arpino and James Wright who helped. "Artists are in such a precarious position in these big public projects," Schiff laments. "But the alternative of the artist off in his studio alone, making small pieces, is sad for our public life." Schiff is no stranger to delays and disruption in public art. A decade ago he was commissioned to create a major public art piece for the city of Baltimore: It remains half finished because a change in administration meant the project was scaled back.

In Charlestown, a Schiff project for Thompson Square is nearing completion after a delay of more than two years the artist attributes to administrative snafus. Gazing up at "Destination," Schiff speaks as if he has yet to arrive at his. "My obligation to art and to the public is to make this the most powerful work I can," he says. "That's why I'm still seeking to rectify a compromised situation. I have faith that art is valuable.

But any-thing requiring faith is difficult for a bureaucracy to grasp." station itself. There's already a lot of duplication in what's being sold arispersingning-paths rriTTS Great W95 Great Wcod6 An Evening Fri June 9 8pm 38. '28. On Sale Now I WITH SPECIAL CUEST IMavemcks July 1 i 'M On Sale Now Aug 14 31, IT On Sale 69 REGGAE SUNSPLASH JULY 7 5PM On Sale Now BLACK SABBATH MOTORHEAD JULY 13 7PMOnSaleNow ClIEENSRYOEwirhTypeONegaljve FRI JULY 16 On Sale Friday RKSFEDVUAGON FLEETWOOD MAC RATBENATAR JULY 22 630PM On Sale Now STEVE MILLER BAND THE DOOBIE BROTHERS SAT JULY 29 7PM On Sale Now CALL retail works well in that location, greeting commuters as they pass through." To Schiff, the commercial activity in the foyer is the equivalent of money lenders in the temple. The hallway should be a grand introduction to the station, an opportunity for symbolism, "like the sculptures in front of a Gothic cathedral that tell you allegorically what is going to happen inside," Schiff says, "or the figures of Art and Science in front of the Boston Public Library that introduce the world of knowledge." You pass through a cathedral portal in seconds.

Schiffs work, though, literally stays with you through the whole foyer, hovering overhead. "This space acts as a funnel, with people entering through the doors in parallel lines, and then Schiff says. Which is also what his sculpture does. Overhead, as you enter the space from outside, are giant steel spools, and winding off them are lines of heavy steel cable that maintain a tight parallel path until they thread through the perforations in a long band of steel that serves as a threshold. Then they strike out in different directions, crossing each other.

They culminate in hanging weights, a series of 25 elegant cast-bronze shapes, each a unique presence though clearly related. "The hanging weights represent travelers' destinations," Schiff says, while the spools represent the start of a journey that gradually unwinds. The taut wires suggest the tension and direction of a trip, the connection between its origin and end. Just as the forest of stone columns would have been, Schiffs sculpture is an elaborate metaphor for travel. "Travel involves a spiritual element," he says, "and that element is embattled in South Station because of the commercial interests." Part of Schiffs problem is that his project was temporarily orphaned after the Arts on the Line pilot program wound down in 1988.

Schiffs initial commission had been administered by Arts on the Line, which in turn was part of the Cambridge Arts Council. Pallas Lom-bardi, former Arts on the Line direc- 7 5) 0 ffi vf? i y-i wir or OF)YSSEY sections additional act South Station more than one pur veyor of fancy candy, more than one place to sip espresso. The rationale for the redundancy is to maximize profits by renting every possible inch of the station. Meanwhile, appreciating Schiffs work is difficult because of the commercial chaos below. At the very least, Schiff would like Beacon to remove the bands around the granite columns.

But both Beacon and the say they have no plans to change anything. Esther Maletz, the T's assistant general counsel, says that "in a way, Schiff is right. But he also goofed. At a really important point he saw all that stuff around and didn't make a fuss about it He was so anxious to get the sculpture up that he felt that if he made too much of a fuss they'd give up the project again. He agreed reluctantly and hoped that things would be fine, and they're not." Deborah Black, Beacon's retail marketing manager, says that the shops and kiosks in the foyer were part of original plan, developed in the 1980s.

"My understanding is that Jeffrey knew there would be retail business under his art," she says, adding that "the station is a transportation facility and a public place, and has to serve a number of functions. We have exhibitions and concerts. We welcome the art. But the 8-i IB, '4 ft (ifk(hmt it'll r-i rW' or uu For your special occasion, notbing compares to Odyssey-Bostons most aniaue Jimif ami cruising experience. Four-course meals, impeccable service and live entertainment indulge your senses while you tour tk ritv fro mi aviftt fjrlca.

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