Steam Work for Bellingham-II
Date: 1974
Art Form: Installation Art
The ephemerality and unpredictability explored in Morris's felt pieces was addressed in other aspects of his oeuvre as well, such as his steam works. One of these pieces was Steam Work for Bellingham-II, commissioned by the University of Washington in 1971 and set in the rolling hills of the university's campus. The piece is a special type of fountain that gurgles underground and swells to an amorphous column of mist, which then dissipates. The form the piece takes is dependent on several factors: by the amount of heat generated at the university at different times of the year and by the weather-related variables such as the degree of sunshine, wind, and condensation in the air. Its interaction with the landscape and the viewer returns to Morris's ideas about perception and physical awareness and was a significant work in the burgeoning Land art movement.
