.In the spring of 1996 the Storm King Art Center invited three artists - John Knight, Daniel Buren and Michael Asher - to submit proposals for works to be added to its permanent collection.

The intention of this project was to expand the range of site-specific pieces at Storm King by engaging artists whose work was traditionally adressed the context in which art is produced and consumed. We felt that Storm King offered them an interesting milieu in which to work and together the three works would generate a critical dialog on sculpture parks in general and this institution in particular.

John Knight's work 87°, draws the viewer's focus off the Art Center's property to an industrial object in its viewshed: the shapely water tower of the former Star Expansion Company. From a telescope on a newly constructed viewing platform, a visual line is drawn obliquely across the allèe of trees in the center's south fields to the upper portion of the water tower, about a mile away. Looking beyond Storm King, the work highlights the institution's relationship to its larger sociopolitical context, including its role within evolving regional land-use syste. Focusing on these overlooked aspects of contextual relevance, it adds meaning to a key element of Storm Kong's success:the value of a well-placed lookout.

Beatrice Stern
Ralph E. Ogden Foundation, Inc.