detail of "The Main Piece"
"One of the Boys"
"The Main Piece"
In 1980, I was installing the sculpture in the Washington offices
of Senator Levin. I had tools scattered all over the place,
cables snaking under things, and here comes the Japanese
Ambassador calling on Senator Levin.
The Senator and I had just hung the Falling Dollar on a spot on
the office wall that happened to be above a chair. When the
ambassador was offered a seat, he chose that chair.
Now, the behavior of this sculpture is as unpredictable as
politics itself, and shortly after the ambassador made himself
comfortable, the lever with the dollar on a string started going
up in preparation for its fall. I was startled to see that "the
fall" would be onto the head of the seated ambassador. I
suggested to Senator Levin that the ambassador might want to move
to another chair. Whereupon the Senator joked, " Don't worry about
it. The falling dollar has never bothered him before."
detail of "The Main Piece"
"One of the Boys"
"The Main Piece"