The Wave Square at

Seattle's Bumbershoot Festival

The story of this wave square--the biggest I ever made--began in 1976 with the drawings of the C-squares. I submitted drawings to the jury for temporary sculpture at Seattle's Bumbershoot, and was among those selected to go ahead. Keith Beckley (inset) helped me construct it over a few weeks' time. We made it with a hollow fir plywood core, skinned over with thin birch laminated plywood, varnished. The head was made of four layers of plywood, painted black. We set it on concrete blocks so it would appear to "float" on the water of the reflecting pond. Greg Both and C. T. Chew joined Keith and I to install it. When the four day Bumbershoot Festival was over, the city of Seattle held it awhile in storage to consider making it a permanent part of the City Light Collection--an art bank. But they declined. The Wave Square was too big to store at my place, so I cut it up with a handsaw and hauled it to the dump. The videos I made of the installed Wave Square are still in my archive.

- Bill Ritchie

The Wave Square for Bumbershoot, 29 feet long and 9 feet wide at the head end. It was installed to appear to be floating, but in fact was supported at both ends.

Keith Beckley as a student, about 1974.