Engagement, installed at Sunset Beach in 2005, depicts two diamond engagement rings and stands nearly 30 feet tall. The diamonds, illuminated and tilting away from one another, are composed of translucent plexiglass boxes, steel and aluminum.[1] The Vancouver Biennale described the sculpture as pop art. Engagement is one of several sculptures by Oppenheim that has been installed in Vancouver: The Device to Root Out Evilan upside-down aluminum church, was installed along the waterfront in Coal Harbour from 2005 to 2008, and Arriving Home was displayed within Vancouver International Airport as part of the 2009–2011 Vancouver Biennale.[8]
During November 11–17, 2007, Engagement was installed along the waterfront at Laurel and Harbor Drive in San Diego, California.[9]
Interpretation and reception
Oppenheim, who often declines to explain his works, kept the meaning of Engagement ambiguous on purpose.[1] According to the San Diego Port, the work reminds spectators that "marriage requires a balance between two people with different interests, tastes and backgrounds" and represents the "dichotomy of marriage, expressing the romantic and the melancholy".[9]
