Abstract sculpture keeps students guessing

An unmarked sculpture placed on the lawn in front of the School of Business
Building at the beginning of the semester has some students puzzled.

Titled “Soft,” the abstract sculpture is the work of artist Craig Wedderspoon,
who stated in an e-mail, the piece represents “an argument between individuals
as expressed through what they have unknowingly left behind.”

The piece was chosen as part of the newly established Art on Campus program,
which selects indoor and outdoor art for installation on VCU’s campuses.

“Soft” was donated by Wedderspoon, a Master of Fine Arts VCU graduate.

Depending on whom you ask, some students think Wedderspoon’s sculpture
resembles genitalia.

“Basically, I see a lot of geometric figures made into one gigantic figure,” junior
business major Jonathan Cummings said. “I guess it’s interesting … that would be
the best adjective to keep things positive. . All right, I’ll come out and say it; it’s
a pair of testicles. That’s what I see.

“Someone put a huge sack in front of the business building, and, being a business
major, that’s kind of a slap in the face.”

Chrysany Collier, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, said she didn’t see
testicles. Although she originally likened the sculpture to “a messed-up world,”
she admitted the robust art form could resemble a pair of breasts.

“When I first saw it, I thought it was a wasp nest,” Collier said. “But I could
see boobs.”

Collier pointed out where she saw a nipple in the structure.
Joe Seipel, senior associate dean of the School of the Arts, served on the selection
committee that chose “Soft” as one of the program’s first pieces. He was unaware
of the various interpretations many students have of the sculpture.

“You can find some Freudian information in anything you look at,” Seipel said.
“That’s not the intention of (Wedderspoon’s) art. To me, it’s the shape of a bean
or a potato. This guy’s a really top-notch sculptor. (With) all of the pieces, you’re
challenged to follow the history of how it’s made.”

Wedderspoon stated the sculpture was built from a “solid line approximately 1,000
feet long, with both ends of the line existing at an arm’s reach of each other.

“The form evolves as the piece is being built,” Wedderspoon, who is the head
of the sculpture department at the University of Alabama, stated.
“Soft” was last exhibited in Richmond at the 1708 Gallery in October 2006.

“Art in the public arena is indeed a curious thing,” Wedderspoon stated. “In
a time where people are enveloped with headsets, iPods and cell phones, I am
delighted to hear that a piece of sculpture at VCU has initiated an expressive
dialogue between actual individuals. Art making people talk to each other …

sounds about right to me.”

Delle Beganie contributed to this story.