Vignettes

Richard Erdman art commission modern sculpture

Seri Tai, Making Place in Taichung

Nothing quite compares to seeing a work of art take its place in the world. It goes from an idea to a vision to a material reality, but the cycle is not truly complete until the work becomes integrated into its environment. The world has changed tremendously since Seri Tai was started, and we are delighted to — at long last — witness this sculpture growing into a life of its own, passing through the seasons and becoming part of the daily rhythms of Taichung.

The seed for the monumental  Seri Tai was planted in early 2018, when Richard was commissioned to create a sculptural centerpiece for architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Veil’s Taichung residential tower “La bella vita.” Richard envisioned an unfurling, monumental public sculpture that would be a closed, complete loop nonetheless reaching towards the sky  — and thus Seri Tai emerged from 35 tons of ancient white Carrara marble. In the fall of 2019, the finished Seri Tai traveled from Carrara to Taichung, where it was installed at the base of “La bella vita” — before the structure was even complete.

Installation was certainly momentous, for Richard, for our studios in Vermont and Italy, and for the entire extended community bringing both Seri Tai and “La bella vita” into existence. But in the months and now years to follow, Seri Tai shaped and was shaped by residents and passersby, taking on new meanings as both personal touchstone and public landmark. Appearing to float on water and set amidst the elegant steel, glass, and amber honeycomb facade of “La bella vita,” and the pink blossoms of a neighboring tree, Seri Tai is now in dialogue with all of the elements. It is humbling to think it will very likely reach forward in time to meet future generations — as they might say in our Carrara studio, la vita è bella.