The surrounding curves of a granite wall etched with the story of a tragic day for firefighters...

A cluster of local basalt boulders carved with the stories of hard work and humor that shaped a region's first 100 years...

A towering, 40 foot tall ribbon of steel, its curves echoing those of the city’s river, surrounded with engraved historical and politically charged texts...

ARTIST STATEMENT

Each of my public art works choreographs form, space, objects and texts into a narrative journey. I create sculptural forms and spaces which are sometimes intimate, sometimes monumental, each of which becomes a vehicle for the stories and histories of the theme of the work. Each work is specifically and meticulously crafted for its site and theme; therefore the materials I use vary with each project and have included granite, bronze, stainless steel, basalt, water, and glass.

FORM AND SPACE

Each work embodies the theme: for a firefighters memorial in Boston, MA, I designed an intimate outdoor space which leads the visitor into the story of the fire and brings him to stand before the site of the blaze; for Reading PA, I have created a towering sculpture that recreates the curves of the city's river in four stories of stainless steel, surrounding it with a circular path of stainless steel engraved with quotations from the city’s history. Each work carefully crafts spaces which surround and guide a visitor’s journey through the work.

TEXT AND OBJECTS

My belief in the power of stories to remind, educate, and inspire is at the core of my work. I often begin by working with local volunteer Community Historians to gather the public histories and personal stories which are specific to the project. Whether the theme of the work is the daily life of a soldier on the Korean front, or the first 100 years of a town’s life, I listen closely to the stories we research and are told , gathering moving accounts and important themes. The final texts are chosen for their ability to capture and explore the theme from a variety of points of view: they inform; they are often personal and emotionally moving; they can be humorous or intellectually provocative, poetic or inspiringly everyday.

I often underscore the meanings of the text by using evocative objects which encourage the visitor to touch: a draped, life-size firefighter’s coat and hat in bronze; a life-size cast metal plow used by the first settlers to a region; a bronzed, pocket-sized prayer book carried by an American prisoner of war in Korea.

The resulting works are layered and interactive: visitors attention is alternately focused on text, on form and on space, each interaction furthering the sense of journey. The works are multi-sensory: inspiring visual and intellectual curiosity, touch, and movement. They capture the particular feel, texture, and meanings of the theme. They invite and encourage further visits.

TED CLAUSEN: PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS

• 2004 Montgomery County, MD, Public Safety Officers Memorial (225,000.00)
• 2003 State Of Connecticut, A.I. Prince Regional Vocational Technical School, ($380,000.000) State of Massachsetts, Irish Immigration Memorial ($250,000.00)
• 2002 Landmark School, Beverly, MA.
• 2000 Holliston Public Schools; Holliston, MA Twin Falls, Idaho: Artists & Communities: America Creates for the Millennium ($125,000) City of Reading, PA; 250th Anniversary Sculpture; to be installed 9-01; ($175,000.)
• 1999 City of Somerville, MA; Korean War Memorial ; installed 2000; ($55,000.) Cambridge City Arts Council, Massachusetts Arts Council: 'Visible Voices' Fuller Art Museum, Brockton, MA: Outdoor Sculpture Installation City of Boston, MA; Parkarts: 'Hidden Words of the North End', Outdoor Sculpture Installation
• 1998 City of Lake Oswego, OR., Cook's Butte Memorial Boston City Library, 'The Space of Speech'; 'Under the Covers'
• 1996 City of Boston: Vendome Firefighter's Memorial. Installed 1997; ($200,000.) Convergence IX, International Sculpture Conference, Providence, RI. Public