(The Scissors), (sculpture).

(The Scissors), (sculpture).

Finger Lakes Fabricators, fabricator.

(The Scissors), (sculpture).

Installed Oct. 31, 1989.

Digital Reference:

Sculpture: steel, painted; Foundation: cement.

Sculpture: approx. H. 12 ft. x W. 17 ft.

An enormous scissors opened with the blades facing downward. The longer of the blades is angled above the ground, while the shorter is encased in a cement foundation. The sculpture is painted black.

Object -- Tool -- Scissors

Outdoor Sculpture -- New York -- Geneva

Administered by Hobart & William Smith Colleges, 337 Pulteney Street, Geneva, New York 14456

Located Hobart & William Smith Colleges, Pulteney Street, south of Warren Hunting Smith Library, Geneva, New York

The sculpture is popularly known as "The Scissors" and its shape symbolizes the distinct coordinate system of the two colleges (separate colleges under one administration). The steel sculpture is a replica of a plywood scissors created as an art assignment by students in Professor A. E. Ted Aub's Three-Dimensional Design Class in the spring of 1989. The original plywood scissors was created by eighteen students including Dana Petersen, Steve Carter, Andrew Kohlmetz, Wendy Glaser. Installed on June 2, 1989, it was knocked over by vandals on June 7th. Upset over the defacement of the sculpture, Finger Lakes Fabricators funded and fabricated the steel replacement. The design of the new steel piece was modified slightly from the plywood original. Modifications included beveling the edges of the scissor blades and creating the illusion of having a bolt through the center blades.

IAS files contain articles from the Finger Lakes Times (Geneva, NY), June 3, 1989, June 9, 1989, Nov. 2, 1989, Nov. 9, 1989, Nov. 15, 1989 and Nov. 16, 1989, which discuss the controversy and vandalism of original sculpture and fabrication of its replacement.

Save Outdoor Sculpture, New York survey, 1994.

Finger Lakes Times (Geneva, NY), Nov. 2, 1989.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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