August 1982. Granite, steel. Dimensions: 11 × 25 × 12 in (28 × 64 × 30 cm).
Public Commission - Billings, Montana
Trough (1982) was John Van Alstine's first large-scale public commission, created to commemorate the centennial of Billings, Montana. Composed of two monumental granite slabs held in dynamic suspension by interlocking steel elements, the sculpture marked the culmination of the artist's early Nature of Stone series while introducing the monumental scale and site-specific thinking that would define his public work for the next four decades.
Rather than serving as an isolated object, Trough was conceived as a response to its landscape. The dramatic negative space between the leaning stones echoes the broad geological trough carved by the Yellowstone River through the surrounding high plains, forging a direct connection between sculpture and place. This fusion of abstract form, geological history, and human experience established an approach that became a hallmark of Van Alstine's monumental commissions throughout the United States and abroad.
August 1982. Granite, steel. Dimensions: 11 × 25 × 12 in (28 × 64 × 30 cm).
Public Commission - Billings, Montana
Trough (1982) was John Van Alstine's first large-scale public commission, created to commemorate the centennial of Billings, Montana. Composed of two monumental granite slabs held in dynamic suspension by interlocking steel elements, the sculpture marked the culmination of the artist's early Nature of Stone series while introducing the monumental scale and site-specific thinking that would define his public work for the next four decades.
Rather than serving as an isolated object, Trough was conceived as a response to its landscape. The dramatic negative space between the leaning stones echoes the broad geological trough carved by the Yellowstone River through the surrounding high plains, forging a direct connection between sculpture and place. This fusion of abstract form, geological history, and human experience established an approach that became a hallmark of Van Alstine's monumental commissions throughout the United States and abroad.
