Project Status:

6-12-08: I recieved the final approval for the project, yay! Next it's contracts, then engineering, and finally fabrication. Stay tuned.

3-29-08: A friend sent me this SF Weekly article about a graffiti wall in San Francisco: "Mission Residents Mad About Artist Covering Up Community Wall."

3-5-08 Update: Resubmitted to APP. They approved the project to procede. Next week it goes to the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission for their approval. (Update update: The project did not make the agenda for March, so it is scheduled for the April 14 meeting.)

2-13-08 Update: This project is now reclassified as Radio-active after the response from the APP (Art in Public Places) committee meeting. Stay tuned with fingers crossed.

My proposal was chosen by the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission selection panel. There are a few formal approvals left before the contract is drawn up. Project is scheduled to be completed April 2009.

Proposal Narrative:

“Authors Of Our Own Destiny”
Writing the book of our lives and sharing our experience with others is the theme of this sculpture. The stories of thousands of years of recorded history are preserved for us and presented to us in our libraries. This sculpture celebrates that record and encourages sharing the experience by either contributing or bearing witness to our own stories.

The sculpture consists of a large, blank book standing open to receive stories from the audience. High above the book is an eye representing the reader. Through the marks we make today, future generations can look back and read our story and learn from who we were. Our stories will teach and inspire posterity. To highlight this idea, a few inspirational quotes from people who made a lasting impression on history, will be written on the pages of the book. To link the monument sign to the landmark sculpture, and the landmark to the library, a large pair of folded reading glasses will be leaning casually against sign in the entry plaza.

The book, mounted at ground level and fabricated from steel, is about 10’ x 15’ x 1.5’ and rests at about a 30 degrees from vertical against a concrete pillar with the quotes written in raised steel letters. The 5’ - 6’ diameter eye, fabricated from steel and bronze, is suspended ~18’ above (at it’s lowest point) looking down on the book and is gimbaled to allow it to blink and look around occasionally in the wind. The book is finished with automotive epoxy with the pages painted off white and the cover a dark, rich red, blue, or green. The reading glasses, fabricated from stainless steel, stand about 8’tall.

The eye is a large, bold, dynamic presence to attract attention and provide a clear landmark for the library. It is symbolic of knowledge, inquiry, study, reading, exploration, and discovery. It is playful and accessible to the broad spectrum of people that are the audience for this sculpture.

The book is the core of the concept. As the sculpture is sited in a high traffic area amidst a college campus, high school, public library, and community center, I wanted to encourage interaction with the audience. Therefore the open book pages are left blank to allow the public to write, draw, paint or otherwise embellish the surface with their own ideas, thoughts, words, images, or whatever they imagine. Literally authoring their own stories. In a short time the layers of graffiti will combine to give the book a colorful abstract appearance when viewed at a distance. The library, high school, community center, college or other local groups can use it as a canvass for creative projects. Being situated at a public library associated with a high school and near a college campus I see the sculptue not only as a forum for visual expression but also as an opportunity to examine concepts of art; what is art? is public art different than private art? and free expression; what does free speech/expression mean? is there a difference between public and private speech.

Set a short distance from and facing the book would be a photo stand. A simple platform with alignment marks allowing one to take photos of the book with a fixed composition allowing a periodic (daily/weekly/monthly) record to be kept of the creativity expressed in the book. These photographs could be collected in a book, published on a website or presented as an animated timeline.

Images of the maquette for North Natomas Library