''Walkways Through the Wall'' is a public artwork by
American artist
Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci (, ; January 24, 1940 – April 27, 2017) was an influential American performance, video and installation artist, whose diverse practice eventually included sculpture, architectural design, and landscape design. His foundational p ...
located at the
Wisconsin Center, which is near
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
.
Description
''Walkways Through the Wall'' is a sculpture, made for the Wisconsin Center, that intertwines public and private space.
Created in 1998 by Vito Acconci, and a collaborating team of architects, (David Leven, Celia Imrey, Luis Vera, Jenny Schrider, and Saija Singer) ''Walkways Through the Wall'' is intended to enhance the idea of the Airlines Center as being seen as one continuous plaza. The dimensions are 14.5' X 68' X 204', and the sculpture stretches from outside the building, through its interior, and out the other side.
The materials used are: Colored Concrete, Standard Gray Concrete, Steel, and Light-box floor. The sculpture passes through the walls of the building as if they aren't there, making a continuous path from exterior to exterior.
Historical information
''Walkways Through the Wall'' is an example of Acconci's focus on architecture and landscape design.
Famous Italian American Architects
/ref> According to Wisconsin policy, 1% of the Midwest Airlines Center had to be spent on art. Instead of creating a piece of sculpture for the outside of the building, Acconci integrated art into the building's design. Mark A. Wallace compares the building's concrete floor to taffy that slips in and out of the building, going through windows, sidewalks and the building's facade.[ tp://ftp.ebuild.com/woc/C99J048.pdf "Concrete flatwork, post-modern style"/ref>
"From the outside, Acconci extends the natural concrete as pathways through the wall and into the building, bisecting the terra-cotta concourse. Each path then heads in a different direction and ends with a unique purpose. In two cases, the path forms a bench at the street level. In another it cascades downward before ending as a sitting area on the level below. In still another, it leads to a stairway connecting the two levels. Light boxes mark the turns in the walkways where the concrete material ceases to exist, illuminating both the interior and exterior concourses."][Discoveries: The Eclectic Art of the Midwest Airlines Center, Schick, Monica, Wisconsin Center District, 2002.] Special care had to be taken in the construction. For example, the benches had to be cast 6 inches thick, so as to be able to support their own weight and that of pedestrians.
The resulting space is playful, yet Acconci also envisioned serious objectives. The artist aimed to re-people the public space, and encourage them to think about how these spaces are shaped. He achieved this by creating a continuous plaza.
Location
This sculpture has a permanent place at the Wisconsin Center.
References
{{MilwaukeePublicArt
Outdoor sculptures in Milwaukee
1998 sculptures
Concrete sculptures in Wisconsin
Steel sculptures in Wisconsin