| Trigger 4 | |
| Artist: | Lee Kelly |
| Type: | Sculpture |
| Material: | Cor-Ten or mild steel |
| Height Imperial: | 12 |
| Width Imperial: | 15.5 |
| Length Imperial: | 10 |
| Metric Unit: | m |
| Imperial Unit: | ft |
| Condition: | "Treatment needed" (1994) |
| City: | Portland, Oregon, United States |
| Coordinates: | 45.4804°N -122.6258°W |
| Mapframe: | yes |
| Mapframe-Zoom: | 13 |
| Owner: | Reed College |
Trigger 4, also known as Trigger Four, is an outdoor 1979 steel sculpture by Lee Kelly, located on the Reed College campus in Portland, Oregon.
Trigger 4 was designed by Lee Kelly and installed in front of the Studio Art Building on the Reed College campus in southeast Portland in 1979. Kelly had served as a visiting associate professor of art at Reed between 1976 and 1979.[1] Like the Studio Art Building, the sculpture was donated to the college by John Gray, who served as chairman of the Board of Trustees, and his wife Betty.[1]
The Cor-Ten or mild steel sculpture measures approximately 12feet x 15.5feet x 10feet and contains an inscription of Kelly's signature and the number 79 on the bottom of the post on the sculpture's northwest side.[2] The Smithsonian Institution describes the work as an abstract ("geometric") sculpture "whose primary forms are triangles and lines".[2] Its condition was deemed "treatment needed" by Smithsonian's "Save Outdoor Sculpture!" program in February 1994.[2]
Following the sculpture's installation, Reed magazine questioned whether it depicted a Chinese character, a horse, or simply an abstract figure formed by lines and angles, saying "perhaps the beauty of the new Lee Kelly sculpture... is that it can evoke different images and meanings."[1] The magazine also said the rust-colored sculpture provides a "striking contrast" to the blue roof and grey exterior walls of the newly constructed Studio Art Building.[1]