SCOTT BURTON (1939-1989)

Scott Burton grew up in Washington, DC and began his professional career as a writer for Artnews. Later as a founding member of the performance art group, 'Street Works' he shifted his creative focus to street theater and other performance and conceptual art, exploring the interaction between people and furniture. By the late 1970s he concentrated strictly on sculpture, using monumental slabs of natural stone to form severe and elemental furniture. Numerous large scale public commissions showcasing his extreme furniture quickly followed. Among his most significant commissions are the complete park design of Pearlstone Park in Baltimore (1985); the design of atrium furnishings, plantings, and outdoor plaza designs for the Equitable Center, New York (1986 and 1987); and the Hudson River plaza of Battery Park City and the World Financial Center, New York (1988). The present bench was installed at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.