Curve/Diagonal is a sculpture created by local Washington artist and WWU Alum Robert Maki in 1979. It was installed at Western Washington University on the northern side of campus in 1981.

In Maki’s signature style this piece is minimalist, large scale and concerned with shaking up our ideas of perception. In his own words, he believes his sculptures to be “a fragment of something larger” and says they are meant to “lend to ambiguity.” Maki achieves both of these goals with Curve/Diagonal as it seems to change when approached from different angles and/or viewed under different light as shown in the photographs. Maki actually used this specific piece to conduct a series of studies on sunlight. During a time of political unease and a huge boom in movements of social justice and representation, Curve/Diagonal helped encourage one to consider what something might look like from a different point of view (or a new light). It is a metaphor in itself, and one that is applicable throughout the generations.

In 1979, there was violence and struggle, including the height of the Cold War, the beginning of the Iranian hostage crisis, and the end of the Energy Crisis – which would leave oil prices at an all time high for years to come. However, on the other side of violence and struggle was, as always, a large subset of the population fighting for peace. In this climate of push and pull (war, peace and everything between)- erupted much incredible art. Perhaps most notably, Andy Warhol had become an icon and pop art became influential to a number of creators of the time.

As for Western Washington University in 1979, students were gearing up to vote for new AS representatives, and there had been a recent outcry from the Art Department that the site architects has a disproportionate amount of control in regard to the campus aesthetic. The board of trustees had established a policy in the late 50’s that required there to be art on campus, which reflected the university’s mission statement at the time. Although the mission at Western has changed a bit over the years, the most recent statement “engaged excellence” speaks not only to the student and faculty engagement in the academic process, but also to the engagement of the public, which Western draws through their elaborate public arts collection. Perhaps as part of addressing the issue of control between the Art Department and the site architects, Maki was allowed to handpick the site for Curve/Diagonal, which was undoubtedly pertinent to achieving his stylistic goal. As noted by former OSC curator and gallery director Sarah Clark-Langager, respecting the artist and their desired location for the work is one of the most important philosophies of the university.

Maki is a Washington native, and has lived there for most of his life. He was born in Walla Walla, attended Western Washington University for his undergraduate, University of Washington for his masters, and continues to maintain a private residence in Seattle. Maki is a full time artist and has been since he graduated from the University of Washington in 1966, however he has had brief stints in teaching roles at the University of Washington, Humboldt State, and Wake Forest University. He is known primarily for his sculptures which can be found at Sea-Tac Airport, Microsoft, The Seattle Art Museum, or the Smithsonian; however he is also known as the codesigner of Greenlake Park in Seattle. Maki says currently he spends most of his time “maintaining [his] private three acre sculpture park” at his home in Seattle.

Authors: Madeleine Dezern, Alissa Vanlandingham, and Lars Wollum.

Images of the Sculpture: Alissa Vanlandingham