Pier 92 Art Proposal

Etch-U-Sketch

OK, I didn't think I cared as much as I apparently do.  I took another look at these four finalists, and can't find anything about any of them that I like.

Regarding the Pier 92 Public Art proposals...


This area has great historical significance, perhaps as great to some as City Hall or Coit Tower.  But would you put an etch-a-sketch, a gamepad, or a huge “peace” street sign on the side of either of them?  No, that would be incongruous with their historical value and their current meaning to the City.  Similarly, none of these proposals honors any part of the history of the silos or their Port setting, and will do nothing but draw attention to them as derelict relics of the past whose only use is as a canvas for someone to tack their work onto.  

Electroland

The silos themselves aren’t concrete monsters so much as the proposed art pieces turn them into such.  The art proposals don’t celebrate the silos, but rather mock them, doing little more than putting lipstick on an ugly, used-up pig.  If the silos were to be painted/wrapped in a Port-honoring way, repurposed, or the area was opened up to public use, tours, or somehow reinvigorated as an homage to the port history of which they were a part, then there might be some utility to this artistic endeavor.  As it is, these proposals do none of that.

Think of how the Bay Bridge Lights project differs from this one, and you’ll see what it means for art to honor the design and use of the structure to which it is affixed.

Transfiguration

Personally, I think all four proposals should be scrapped and this process begun from scratch.

Peace