Patrick Dougherty, Upper Crust, 2009, Willow branches, Joseph L. Alioto Performing Arts Piazza, San Francisco
That led me to VR coverage of Patrick Dougherty’s Upper Crust, fanciful organic site structures, staged in the Civic Center’s Aliota Piazza: Patrick Dougherty in San Francisco.
Last night I gathered with a few friends at the Ferry Building on the patio outside Boulette’s Larder, to witness the official lighting of the Leo Villareal project on the Bay Bridge. Mille grazie to Lori, who set us at a table in the heart of primo viewing real estate. We shared a picnic and some wine, as the crowd and storm clouds slowly enveloped us.
Long before the official “lights on,” the atmosphere was charged with anticipation. Thousands of people gathering, conversing (Christo came up a lot), waiting patiently, as the drizzle turned into a downpour. The concentration of ions! The absolute wonder of of it all was that we had amassed not for an Obama speech, a Lady Gaga concert, a SF Giants parade, but for a WORK OF ART. As an artist, I experienced a truly a thrilling moment when the bridge went live and the crowd cheered heartily.
What a star Bay Lights is! 25,000 twinkly lights programmed in dynamic water-related themes—fish, reflective patterns, and wave forms undulated along the bridge’s spans. The ebb and flow of the rain added the perfect theme-based notes to the evening.
I will always refer to this work affectionately as “tiny bubbles,” for the first blast of lights, which floated up the bridge cables like bubbles in a champagne glass. Kudos to the private consortium who raised major funding for the piece—it is a fitting congratulatory toast to our city by the bay.
The bridge will be lit for 2 years. As we left the site last night, still basking in the glow of those light-emitting diodes, all we could think about was how sad a day it will be for us when the bridge returns to unadorned darkness.
Though the Villareal Bridge (maybe our bridge will acquire a proper noun through all of this?) does not rank as the largest public art project in the US (that honor may belong to Christo’s Gates), for us this is a big deal, a bona fide celebrity art piece. Along with SFMOMA expansion for the Fisher collection of contemporary art and the Andy Goldsworthy Presidio and de Young projects, Bay Lights demonstrates how San Francisco is inching ever closer to recognition as a destination spot for art.
I hope the success of this project encourages the SF art community to step up the level of its commitment with respect to nurturing and promoting locally-grown artists. One day we may not have to import a New Yorker to make our celebrity art piece.
“Indispensable Wisdom on the Pavement”: All the Look Down! posts have been published on the day I took the photo. All of them have been on the pavement. I constantly debate with myself about the wisdom of posting “Wisdom” outside those rules, MY rules. “Real Love Ahead” wasn’t taken on this day and the message is scrawled across a wall, not laid down on the pavement. This time expediency got in the way of the rules. Plus, I loved this hopeful message lurking near the light as you emerge from a long, dark tunnel. Sometimes, you just gotta break the rules.
“Indispensable Wisdom on the Pavement”: The whole Palin thing put me into a frenzy of emailing, reading, listening, and thinking. By the beginning of this week, I was nearly desperate; it was beginning to look like the country really might be stupid enough to elect this nincompoop. But the storm clouds broke yesterday, and attention shifted away from the Palin factor and onto more important economic issues. This message on the pavement was just the reminder I needed.
Location: Octavia between Linden & Hayes, W Pavement
“Indispensable Wisdom on the Pavement”: This graphic tree lies at the base of a real tree planted not so long ago along the redeveloped Octavia Boulevard. Art imitating life, the most sincere flattery. OR maybe it’s a protective talisman—as Friends of the Urban Forest can attest, a good number or urban trees don’t make it to maturity.
