ficelle

A Sigh of Relief

I love art and I enjoy the sometimes ridiculous object-buildings which have become the norm for art museums in recent years.  That said, I was relieved and pleased to read that the Fishers have decided to abandon plans to locate their museum at the Presidio.  Although their statement says that they might consider other Presidio locations, I am hoping they've learned their lesson and will not try to blight the Main Post once again.   

There is something obnoxious and outrageous to me about the way in which the Fisher's insinuated themselves and their view of what a public place should be without regard to what park users, preservationists or virtually anyone else want (save, of course, Don's fellow Trustee's).  No doubt, trade offs will be made in order to add amenities to and preserve historic character of the Presidio.  Will the Presidio reorganize to be a more private agency than the Trust?  The Presidio will change, but I don't like the idea of private individuals dictating the use of this resource in this manner.  This is some sort of alternative universe version of urban renewal where rich and obnoxious people rule... oh wait, that might have been our version of urban renewal... 

Apparently Don Fisher demanded more space than the current SFMOMA for the collection, so negotiations to donate his collection to MOMA broke down.  There is an interesting and odd tension here.  A person with a noted art collection wants to share it with the public, even offering to build the museum.  At the same time, this person is unwilling to work with people who want to help the art be exhibited and enjoyed by the public.  It would be nice to see the Fisher's use the public relations issues and community tension the resulted from the Presidio plan as an opportunity to recreate the concept of the museum.  Why not engage in a public process of planning, siting and programming the space?  The building has the opportunity to serve the community in a new and fully integrated way which the Fisher's do not recognize.  And, I don't mean a community meeting room located next to the security desk that is rented out at a discounted rate to non-profits.  Why not challenge the conventional museum experience?  There is a chance to reconfigure the function of this museum and integrate it in the fabric of the city in a completely new way.  Why not work with the residents of San Francisco to make this museum a showcase for art and community?  If the Fisher's want to give the public a gift of art, why not work with that public? 

And, one final question: why can't the Presidio keep the bowling alley?

Links for background information.

Little Boxes

I finally started to watch Weeds.  I have gotten through the first two seasons and started on the third.  I really like it.  I wish there was more critique of cookie cutter life in the third season... I am not far into it, but I don't like all this U-Turn stuff. 

At any rate, the theme song is fantastic.  I love the utter dismay of the cookie cutter lifestyle of suburbia.  At the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art show, I fell in love with these pastels.  The boxy houses with glowing blue swimming pools came to mind when I heard the song.  Lol, I wonder if this artist would consider adding hideous plastic columns, vinyl siding, fake brick/stone facades and those stupid mini round windows to his critique.  Disposable, unsustainable, crap construction.  Funny thing is that the houses that inspired the song are actually pretty cool looking.

Mural Arts

Philadelphia wants to be known as the City of Murals.  There are murals everywhere.  Empty buildings, blank facades adjacent to empty lots are reworked with these murals.  The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program website has a wealth of information about the art and even maps so one can plan a walking tour. 

Last school year, I repeatedly butted heads with a classmate over this type of program.  He suggested that our client to start a program like this in order to "decorate the walls" behind the empty lots along their commercial corridor.  The community had a history of being taken advantage of by the local and state governments that occupied the nearby business district.  I felt that if the community came together and supported a mural, the mural would become sacred.

The problem is that this corridor really needed to fill in large gaping holes in the street wall with buildings.  The corridor needed to rearrange its uses in order to create density and high-quality space to house the growing community college.  My classmate told me at the onset of this debate that the whole point of the Mural Arts Program was to see the murals eventually torn down or covered up as part of the redevelopment of the surrounding neighborhood.  This is conceptually problematic to me.  If the goal is to build community, as symbolized by the mural, what does it mean when the art is destroyed by the process of gentrification/development/change? 

I felt that the client-community was so disenfranchised that it would require tremendous effort and growth in order to accomplish the mural in the first place.  So, if completed, how would that community react to the mural being taken down?  I felt it would destroy and hurt the community.  If the issue about whether to destroy the mural was avoided (meaning that there was an effort to save it in the face of development) then the entire neighborhood would suffer from the lost opportunity to fill an empty lot and provide upgraded facilities to a key anchor on the corridor. 

This probably reads as a completely ridiculous argument to an outsider.  What are the long term ramifications of a theoretical mural?  Maybe planners care too much about this stuff.  But, it is crazy to me that I repeatedly argued against public art.  It still makes me uncomfortable over a year later.  I did win the argument and we compromised  by recommending temporary uses for these lots, like street fairs or farmers markets.  What stupid planning school logic-- that was a victory. 

At any rate, I saw this mural at 15th and Waverly Street.  It made me wonder what community it stands for... vampire prostitutes. Or, a secret league of burlesque spies?  Is this a huge, local voting block?

Public Art Shenanigans III

Walking in Old City last weekend, I saw this post.  Leaning Tower of Please Don't Drive on the Sidewalk.

Public Art Shenanigans II

All sorts of public art fun in Rittenhouse Square these days.  An April Fools rain shower did not keep someone from enjoying the warmer spring weather by sharing some flowers.

Public Art Shenanigans

Walking through Rittenhouse Square today, I noticed a new public art display.  I recently attended a lecture on the History of Rittenhouse, which didn't include this work.  The lecture was not very informative, but it did discuss the presence of cotton mills in the mid-1800s on Lombard Street around 20th or maybe it was 22nd.  I can't imagine this area of Philadelphia filled with cotton mills, brick factories and puddles.