Because it was such a rowdy party at the Olympic Sculpture Park opening this weekend—Seattle Art Museum clickers counted 23,000 visitors Saturday and 12,000 Sunday—museum conservators are out pressure-washing Richard Serra’s Wake this morning.

“The oils from people’s fingers were making marks, I think,” says museum spokeswoman Cara Egan.”It’s not serious damage.”

Another source told me the marks looked keyed in. Egan said she didn’t know of any keying. Here’s an image by fweez that I found on Flickr of one tag (Lena):

The performance art trio SuttonBeresCuller planted their graffiti (photo from Greg Lundgren): a 3-foot stainless steel tree called Splinter, after Roxy Paine’s 50-foot stainless steel tree called Split. The museum, for now, is allowing the homage/parody to stand. But “I don’t think it will be there for very long,” Egan says.

UPDATE: Christopher Frizzelle got a tip this afternoon that it wasn’t SuttonBeresCuller after all who put up Splinter (they haven’t responded to my email yet), but that it was hot tipper and photo supplier Greg Lundgren himself, as part of a RIVAL art-gang-trio with Jed Dunkerley and Jason somebody.

Are you a liar, Greg Lundgren? Confess!

I’m bruised by your strong accusations! I simply sent you a photograph of a piece of sculpture that I SAW at OSP, that bore a tag with SBC’s name. I’m too old to be in a rival gang (and the Mimi Gates part is true). If I were in a rival gang with Jed and Jason, I can’t imagine why we would create a piece of sculpture, sneak it into the park opening day, and give SBC all the credit. Plus, it sure does LOOK like something they would do.

I’ll have to investigate this matter more on my own. I WAS doing a performance at Pacific Place that afternoon. I have an alibi and video. And where Christopher gets his information is suspicious. I guess only the security tapes at OSP could possibly reveal the truth. Curious indeed.

Greg Lundgren

Other morning-after park bits:

Photography of Paul Allen’s Typewriter Eraser is allowed, regardless of the crazy signage. “That’s a misinterpretation of the loan agreement,” Egan says. “We thought it was right, but it wasn’t that extreme, so we’re taking it down.”

And the Louise Bourgeois fountain will be out of commission for the next few weeks as the museum paves the plaza and puts the eyeball benches down. The plantings and the pathways down there—the rest of the park, in other words—should be finished by late February, Egan says.