Controversy Lingers Over Sculpture : CalArts: Questions remain over the handling of demolition of the tower, which was vandalized, and what--if anything--to put in its place.

Several months after a highly visible symbol of artistic enterprise at CalArts was destroyed, a controversy continues on how the school handled the situation.

The source of contention is “Earthwork Process 7,” a round, hollow, towering sculpture that was 22 feet high and 16 feet wide at its base. Created in 1987 by then-student Nobuho Nagasawa on a corner of the school’s athletic field, the monumental sculpture was the only student artwork approved for long-term outdoor installation on campus.

“It was a landmark, an icon for the art community,” said John Bache, associate dean of the School of Art.

Nagasawa, who built the brick tower by hand with the help of volunteers, predicted that it would withstand the elements for at least 20 years. An architect associated with the project, popularly known as “Nobi’s Tower,” said he thought that it could last as much as 10 times that long.

But on the night of Sept. 25, two art students attacked the tower with heavy implements, destroying about half of it. CalArts officials, who later expelled the students, said their motives had to do with general anger against the school.

“I just started crying when I got the call about what happened,” said Japanese-born Nagasawa, 31, who lives in Los Angeles.

The aftermath of the attack, however, replaced much of her sadness with anger. Before she had a chance to inspect the damaged tower, a CalArts official ordered the still-standing portion dismantled and hauled away because of concerns that it might further collapse and hurt someone.

Nagasawa believes that the decision to knock down the undamaged sections was made too quickly. “I think there were people in the administration who did not want me to see it and say that I could fix it,” she said bitterly. “I think there were people who took advantage of the situation to get rid of the sculpture.”

The project was unusual, even by CalArts’ broad standards. Nagasawa, who attended the school as an exchange student from West Berlin University, had designed the tower as an earthwork to be constructed of bricks and then fired like a gigantic ceramic pot.

Because once fired the work would be more or less permanent, the project had to be approved by administrators not only from the School of Art, but also all the other schools on campus.

“On the strength of her past experience and her presentation, the approval was unanimous,” Bache said.

The school donated $1,000 toward the project and Nagasawa struck deals with local companies to get the bricks, clay and other materials she needed at a discount or for free. Volunteers from on and off campus helped with the labor, which included drilling eight holes in each of the almost 10,000 bricks used in the project. “It was truly a community effort,” Bache said.

After four months of construction, wood was stacked inside the tower and set ablaze for the firing process. The fire was kept going for four days, providing a spectacular climax to the project.

Bache said “Nobi’s Tower” was generally well-liked on campus. “The students put in a big garden out there and sometimes at night they would sit out there under the stars,” he said. “It was meant to be a place of reflection, and it was.”

“It had a kind of spiritual feeling to it,” said Juan Cordova, who was a student at the time it was built and is now associate director of the computer animation laboratory. “People would sometimes just walk out there to be by themselves.”

Nagasawa finished her studies at CalArts a few months after the tower was completed and has since received commissions to build large earthwork sculptures in countries as far-flung as Italy and Japan. Last month, she was one of three artists chosen by the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency to create a sculpture for that city’s downtown.

There were minor problems with the tower site over the years. It became littered at times and one summer there were reports that non-students were occasionally coming on campus and staying overnight in the tower.

More serious were the concerns of John Fuller, CalArts’ vice president in charge of the school’s physical plant, about the integrity of the structure. Some cracks had appeared on the tower’s surface. But Nader Khalili, a local architect who has written several books about earthwork structures, visited the tower in early September and found it to be sound.

“It had stood there for over three years exposed to the rain and wind without any real damage,” said Khalili, who had been an adviser to Nagasawa. “There was no doubt in my mind that this structure could have stood for 200 years or more.”

About two weeks after Khalili’s visit, the vandals struck, primarily smashing in the top section.

“I had been used to seeing that tower every morning when I drove onto campus,” Bache said. “It was familiar. When I saw it like that, it was like a piece of my life was gone.”

Fuller was in charge of assessing the damage. “I would say that more than half of it was down,” he said. “The bricks were piled inside and parts of it were scattered around.”

Cordova called Nagasawa with the bad news. She contacted Fuller, who told her that early indications were that the tower had simply collapsed. But rumors were already circulating on campus that there had been foul play.

A steel rod found in the rubble and a closer examination of the damage confirmed this suspicion.

Nagasawa wanted to meet with Fuller to inspect the damage as soon as possible, but he told her that he would not be able to see her until the next afternoon.

That night, however, the situation at the tower site worsened, Fuller said.

“I got a call that kids were hovering around out there,” he said. “I was worried there could be an accident. The structure was no longer stable.” He arranged to have a guard posted at the site.

In the morning, Fuller hired a heavy equipment company to knock down what was left of the tower and clear the site. “It was a safety issue and with kids around, you just can’t take risks,” he said.

When Nagasawa arrived in the afternoon, there was almost nothing left of “Nobi’s Tower.”

“There was just this big bulldozer and some men working,” she said with bitterness.

Fuller stands by his decision to have the site cleared as quickly as possible, but said that if he had it to do over again, he would have notified Nagasawa.

Nagasawa met twice with CalArts President Steven Levine to discuss the situation and air her grievances. Levine told her that the school would consider giving her the space and support for a new project and he personally donated $200. The school also agreed to pay the costs she had incurred to retrieve, from a dump site, the bricks she could salvage.

Bache and other campus officials mounted a campaign to find the vandals. “At first I was sure it had to be outsiders,” he said. “I could not believe that anyone in our community could do something like this.”

But as rumors persisted that students were to blame, Bache had posters put up around campus condemning the act and soliciting information. Several students thought to have inside knowledge were interviewed.

About a month after the attack, two art students confessed, largely due to student pressure. “Their fellow students shunned them because word had gotten out that they were the guilty ones,” Bache said. “They were made into outsiders. Their lives were miserable.”

Bache said the students, whose names he declined to disclose, would give only vague motives for the attack. “They were just striking out in general about things that made them angry,” he said. “It was irrational and just plain stupid.”

Criminal action was contemplated, but school officials wanted to handle the matter quietly and internally. The two--one a senior and the other a second-year student--were expelled for two years. If they want to return after that, they will have to go through the entire application process.

Nagasawa and CalArts officials have not had much contact since the vandals were caught. But this week she and Bache spoke about the possibility of her doing a replacement project.

“She might do a piece on a smaller scale,” Bache said. “Of course, anything that is proposed would again have to be approved by a deans council before it was constructed.

“I, for one, would suggest that if it is approved, we put a fence around it.”