Green River is the home to a new sculpture. The sculpture was constructed in December 2010 by contractor Randy Erwin. The sculpture was designed by renowned Australian artist Andrew Rogers. Rogers was contacted by a lawyer at his home in Australia and asked if he would construct this sculpture in the town of Green River, Utah. Rogers hadn’t been to Green River before. The lawyer who contacted him was acting in behalf of retired math teacher Herbert Steiner who owns 84 acres in Green River. He also owns parcels of land in other towns near railroad stations as he has a fascination with railroads and rode trains in his younger days. The retired teacher lives in Seattle, Wash. and has a love for Green River according to Conae Black, Green River City recorder. The land has been donated for the sculpture and other sculptures may be constructed on the site in the future. Steiner is reported to have sold some of his parcels of land in other places to pay for the Green River sculpture.
Keith Brady is a Green River businessman and on the Green River City council and on his Robbers Roost blog he included the following information about the project. “Here in Green River, Utah we had the world renowned Australian artist Andrew Rogers put together a sculpture he calls the “Golden Ratio”. It is one of three in the world. It is a pyramid of blocks created according to the mathematical rule of the golden ratio. According to Wikipedia, ‘In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one.’ Golden Ratio in Math: This ratio, is also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, or golden section, is a number often encountered when taking the ratios of distances in simple geometric figures such as the pentagon. The Fibonacci sequence and the golden ratio are intimately interconnected. Both are found in nature, for instance, a slice through a Nautilus shell reveals golden spiral construction principle, the length of the bones in a human finger, the number of pedals of a flower, the seemingly random sequence of sunflower seed, or the way the pine cone spines spiral on a closed pine cone. Why the golden ratio? The golden ratio and/or Fibonacci sequence is used in art and architecture all the time. These mathematical rules have a subtle aesthetic that makes most nature, art and architecture pleasing to the eye, so much so that we can’t explain it but we like it. The sculpture can be seen from the railroad, highway and from numerous places from in town. It is an impressive structure made up of 53 blocks of enormous size each weighing approximately six tons; two of which are black and a gold leafed block to cap the top,” said Brady.
Rogers has designed structures all around the world including Antarctica, Israel, Sri Lanka and India. The Green River structure is the largest he has done to date and it’s as high as a four story building.
The sculpture has become a source of curiosity in Green River with visitors wondering how the sculpture came to be placed in the obscure site of Green River.
Ratio: Green River Home To New Sculpture
"The sculpture called Ratio sits on the desert near Green River."