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Notorious: A guide to Denver’s most criticized and least understood pieces of public art (part 2)
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Articulated Wall, Herbert Bayer, Denver Design Center
2. “Articulated Wall” by Herbert Bayer
Articulated Wall by Herbert Bayer was first constructed near the entrance of the Denver Design Center in 1986 and has since become a Denver landmark. More than its style or historic value, its color is criticized most often. While it is hard to deny that bright yellow is a challenging color for a piece of this scale, the history of the piece and its creator are sure to make viewers see the work in a new light.
Denver’s version of Articulated Wall is actually the second in the world. The piece was originally designed for and displayed at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City and stands roughly 60-feet tall. When he saw it in Mexico City the original developer for the Denver Design Center decided it would be a perfect fit and commissioned Bayer for another version of the piece with an additional 25-feet of height. Bayer completed this new piece in 1986 at the requested height of 85-feet.
The piece was donated to the Denver Art Museum, which houses many of Bayer’s works, shortly after its construction though it was never moved from its original location.
Articulated Wall consists of 32 pieces of concrete each measuring 41’x5’2”x2’7”. A refueling mast from an aircraft carrier stands vertically at the center of the piece holding all of its parts together. The pieces are not secured where they meet leaving gravity and the sheer weight of two million pounds of concrete to hold the work together.
Herbert Bayer studied at Dessau Bauhaus under such famous artists as Johannes Itten and Wassily Kandinsky before moving to Berlin in 1928 to focus on his own work. Bayer came to the US in 1938 and lived in Aspen, Colorado from 1946-1974 where he did work in painting, architecture, and landscape design.
In both printmaking and advertising Bayer’s work came to epitomize the Bauhaus style. The Bauhaus school was started with the intent of teaching artists to combine fine art and crafts. Founder Walter Gropius believed in the idea of creating one “total” work of art in which all arts would be combined. The style pushed towards functionalism and industrial design and was devoted to the elegant simplicity and form. The Bauhaus style was extremely influential in both Western Europe and the United States and has affected nearly all aspects of modern art including architecture, graphic design, industrial design, and typography.
Both the color and the location of Articulated Wall have been cause for discord among Denver’s population. While the piece is easily visible from both Santa Fe Drive and I-25 the location is strange in that it is not easily accessible to get a closer look or different perspective. Combine that with the fact that the views from those two roads are not the most interesting ways to experience the piece and it’s no wonder that there is not much respect for the work. Bayer’s choice of color is also more understandable when considering that the original location, Mexico City, probably featured brighter colors in both its architecture and flora, making Yellow a logical choice and Bayer was commissioned to recreate the piece changing only the dimensions. It can also not be ignored that the piece was constructed in the 1980’s, a decade not often remembered fondly for its aesthetic trends.
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