By Rachael Buselmeier, Ryan Olson, Riley Simon Bloc

In 1966, Western Washington University held a sculpture contest revolving around using found objects. Steve Tibbetts, a student at the time, entered with ‘Scepter’. When he won first place, Western purchased the piece as part of their permanent sculpture collection.

The piece was made by welding parts of scrap car exhausts together. He took something that he found, and turned it into a completely unique sculpture unlike any of the components that he’d crafted it from. It is unknown what the statue is actually supposed to represent, people think it resembles a middle finger, an umbrella, a person. Likely, Tibbetts’ original intent will be lost to history, since there is such little information on him nowadays.

Some of his other well-known work includes a sculpture titled  “Mach Machinations in the Mode of Senility”, which was displayed in the Seattle Art Museum, as well as chandeliers designed for the Whatcom History Museum. However, other than that on his website, Steve Tibbetts does not have any extensive biographical information; net even a Wikipedia page . This secrecy is likely intentional. One potential reason for his obscurity could be due that there is a famous singer with the same name.

In nineteen-sixty-two, Rachel Carson, a marine biologist studying pesticides, published the book Silent Spring, which discusses the harmful effects such substances have on not only the environment, but on people as well. The publication, along with numerous natural disasters which occurred around that time, are what most historians deem to be the beginning of modern day environmentalism. Concerns for human health and safety begin to spread through the nation, and before long, environmentalism became not only a massive political movement, but a social one as well.

One of the notable social trends around this time was the concept of “reduce, reuse, recycle”. The original idea was much the same as it is today; use less so as to produce less waste, repurpose things instead of throwing them out, and recycle paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum whenever possible. One thing that feels often forgotten in regards to reducing, reusing, and recycling, however, is that literally anything can be used to create art.

It’s hard to say for certain what his specific inspiration was when building Scepter, since the piece was created half a century ago and not much exists in terms of documentation on it or the artist. However, given the theme of the contest and the growing environmentalism of the decade, it seems safe to assume that at least some inspiration did come from the social and political wave sweeping America.
For our video of the sculpture we decided to ask Western students what they thought it could mean. We soon heard rumors about a possible removal of the sculpture because of its phallic nature, although none of these claims were substantiated, we thought we should get a perspective on how students would feel if it was removed. In talking to the students we encouraged them to take time to consider one of Western’s less celebrated sculptures and reflect on censorship in art. Although the video is light hearted, participants will no doubt take an extra moment the next time they pass Scepter.

Works Cited

D’Souza, Ajay. “A Spiral Cage.” Public Art at WWU » A Spiral Cage. N.p., 28 Mar. 2009. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

“Machinations in the Mode of Senility.” Record Machinations in the Mode of Senility, (sculpture) | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.

“Search Results.” Search Results For: , Page 1 | Collections Search Center, Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2017.