23 replies to this topic

[eraser]

The official unveiling of the downtown Phoenix civic art park and the public art sculpture "Her Secret is Patience" (aka The Jellyfish):

http://downtownvoice...ening-april-16/

Here are some preview pics of the Jellyfish at night. They were taken on an iPhone (by Ben Bethel of The Clarendon Hotel). Even with only 2.0 megapixels it looks really awesome:

http://twitpic.com/3ap1r

http://twitpic.com/3ap40

[chadk]

cool!

[JRC]

I love this thing.
And I don't.

JRC

[weener]

Woah

[unluckycharm]

I like it.

[sonofpatter]

I love this thing.
And I don't.

JRC

It is bad marketing and makes artists look silly. That thing will be more and more of an eyesore as it deals with our monsoons and will for a long time (like the pots on 51) be an example our enemies will use as an example "don't give artists money because look at the stupid shit they do with it."

I like how our city is/has committed to the arts but that money (I don't care to look it up because it just angers me) was not well spent. I would have much rather it be disperused too many then just a few.

[Jacki O.]

it looks pretty cool in the photos

[chadk]

i like the idea of having more public art in downtown, the monsoon thing might be bad for this one though. have you guys seen the lights on the light rail bridge over tempe town lake, i heard they were pretty cool.

[Quezo]

OH man that is cool! I feel like godzilla is gonna stomp out at any moment and commence battle with it!

[JRC]

I love this thing.
And I don't.

JRC

It is bad marketing and makes artists look silly. That thing will be more and more of an eyesore as it deals with our monsoons and will for a long time (like the pots on 51) be an example our enemies will use as an example "don't give artists money because look at the stupid shit they do with it."

I like how our city is/has committed to the arts but that money (I don't care to look it up because it just angers me) was not well spent. I would have much rather it be disperused too many then just a few.

I do think its great that PHX council pushed ahead and got this thing installed.
There's also a great misunderstanding of where the funds for this came from--it was from a specific funds for art program and not general city funds.
I think there's people who are willingly/focefully ignorant to the concept of public art/public space.

That said, on the whole, I'm very wary of public art, most of it is terrible, but that's what you get when a committee designs something (I like the squid visually).

BUT, that being said, I think if you're going to use grant funds/public funds for projects like this, they should reflect the community as a whole, and as much as I think its a bitchin' piece of art, I know most Phoenix residents just aren't going to get this.
Does that mean we should put up another giant cactus sculpture, or trite fo-native culligraphs?
I don't know, I. just. don't. know.

JRC

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I like it a lot now, but it took time to grow on me.

I think my first thought when I heard about it was wondering why they didn't pick an Arizona artist.

Then, I thought of all the artists, arts programs and stuff locally that could have been supported with that money.

I also wondered why something it didn't necessarily reflect Phoenix and Arizona more obviously and have more local input. (Janet Echelman is from out of town and has mentioned that cactus blossoms were her inspiration).

There are ups and downs to those concerns, but for the sake of brevity, I've kind of made peace with those concerns.

A big reason: I think Phoenix deserves some public work of arts that big, brash, and even ridiculous. At the very least, going big will ensure that it's not boring. Say what you will, but no one can say that the Jellyfish is boring. Also, it's definitely stirred up opinions and thoughts - I think that's one of the many goals /uses of art in the first place.

I definitely understand where you're coming from, Kevin ... The freeway pots, though, were a fiasco of an entirely different stripe. On a purely public art level, they were doomed to failure and ridicule. Those pots weren't about the public engaging or being drawn by the art in any significant way. They were just there as an attempt to pretty up those freeway walls that people zoomed too fast past to care about anyway.

With The Jelllyfish, it hovers over an area that's been shaped to be friendly to the public. It acts as almost a beacon to the effort the city's making toward being progressive (however too late or too little we sometimes think it is). I've snuck into that park (it's super-easy) and it's laid out decently well and I think it'll be a nice little oasis.

As for the people who will naysay and think that some public art project is stupid, those people WILL ALWAYS express those opinions. Those people won't think that any money that's not going toward their pockets or maybe to build another stadium is a good use of money. Those folks (to grossly generalize) don't really have any sense as to the value of community and civic pride, especially when most of them will go back into their suburban caves and watch hours of tv rather than actually daring to get to know their neighbors.

They're the same people who naysay'd the light rail and said that no one would ever ride it. Even now, as light rail use increases each month (check out some of the articles at http://www.raillife.com), they're naysaying and claiming that it was a waste of money.

To try to appease them in anyway is pretty much just a dead end.

I'm not gonna pretend like The Jellyfish is the greatest thing in the world, but it's pretty damn unique. It's in a place that I think will benefit locals and it'll be neat when people visiting will return here and there, and think, "ah, Phoenix" when the see it.

Denver has that big, silly blue bear.

Chicago has Cloud Gate at Millenium Park (which all the locals call the Bean).

Phoenix has the Jellyfish.

[Quezo]

Interesting, as one of the

Spoiler

ships

in the new

Spoiler

Star Trek

movie is called the Jellyfish.

[skeksis]

I saw it when I rode by on the light rail this afternoon...

NOT really a fan.

In general, I'm all for big art installations. But this example... I just don't like it, and it's too easy a target (for too many reasons) for folks who think this stuff is a waste of $.

[eraser]

Another pic!

http://twitpic.com/3ce9k

[chadk]

denver also has







and




and






and of course the bear which i don't think is silly but whatevs