Joys of Public Art: 2

Phil and Steve installing Z-Bars...

So…at long last, after twice sending the mural panels back to Seattle for problems with the lamination, they were declared finished and shipped back to Tampa, scheduled to arrive today.  So we had prepared to install, had installed the ‘Z Bars’ for hanging the 48″ X 88″ steel panels, had the frame finished and delivered, and the decks clear to begin installation tomorrow, saturday, morning. BUT…tracking the shipment this morning I found it was still enroute to ATLANTA…and will be here monday or tuesday. The result being, as both I and Phil are leaving for California early next week, means that the piece will not be installed until June 26th or so.

Really the project from hell in terms of schedule; it was originally planned to be installed last November. The city had delays, and then we discovered the lamination problems. Such a huge difference workong with industrial process, and depending on the expertise and commitments of others. Almost all of my projects over the years have been paintings; large, done in my studio, then delivered and hung. I’ve never missed a deadline, and I have often recruited a friend or family member to drive with me to deliver the piece in a rented truck. The canvases have more than occasionally been wet, but they get there on time.

It’s academic right now….there are no projects on the horizon with the economy down. So I have a lot of time to follow my nose to the onsite projects and problems I’m pursuing. But; it’s odd about the way the details of installation this week become such a distraction, and how they seem to sap my energy and motivation.

I know that my best times recently, in terms of painting, have come from the week long trips centered on a place and on painting. The great luxury of being somwhere with no appointments or meetings or chores….to get up in the morning, have coffee, and get onto the problem of where to paint that morning. It’s best when I’m alone, no obligations beyond the panel on the easel. So…I look forward to many and more frequent trips.

I do have one possible studio project, for a friend who is just finishing a superb small house, and who pointed out a wall there to me today, with a suggestion for a piece. I might do a view through a thicket of bamboo….not nearly as corny as it sounds.

Going to our family re-union next week just south of Monterrey, at Asilomar. It is a conference center designed by Julia Morgan in 1913; she was the architect for W.R. Hearst’s San Simeon Palace….think Rosebud… The reunion should be memorable…my 4 sibs and myself in our  60′s and 70′s, telling stories and inflated memories to the kids and grandkids. It’s so sobering to have kids almost 50!!  My daughter is editing some home movies from the late 40′s and 50′s….which are beautiful in and of themselves, with the erratic exposure, faded color, and ‘firehose’ camera moves…they are behind a dense veil which is such an apt analog for the passage of the 50 or so years. It’s odd, and also a pleasure, to see and recognize that long lost child, yourself.

Joys of Public Art!

RIVERWALL Photo Mural

I’m in the process of trying to complete a project that began a year ago, and was scheduled for installation last November! It’s a ‘quilt’ of images for an exterior wall, all images being photographs of aspects of the Hillsborough River here in Tampa. The images are all photographs I’ve made, some from over the years, some recently, and some of paintings I’ve done of the river in past years.

The composition was developed with Andrea Mosaic software, which allows composing  many separate images in conformance with an overall image. I used an overall image of some floating lily pads, and then made a great number of test images, with the software, to arrive at the final composition. The notion was that from a distance the image might seem abstract but also vaguely ‘riverlike’ and organic. On close view is has very specific and sharply focused information about aspects of the river. I began with thousands of shots… tight, wide, night, aerial,…urban and wild…photo and paintings…and composed the image. A constant struggle in the composition was balancing the exposure range of each photo in terms of how it functioned in the overall image as well as how it stood up in the close view. Some of the images, on close inspection, tend toward under or over exposure, but their overall value range was also determined by their place in the overall composition…if this makes any sense to you.

There were delays in the site preparation, and then problems with the printed plates! The printing was excellent…amazingly sharp and with very punchy contrast. They were completed and shipped to Tampa in January, and we waited for the site to be ready. When we finally uncrated all the plates…they weigh 180 lbs. each(!), we found that some edges had separated from the 3/8″ aluminum backing plates. We sent them all back to be fixed, and then when they arrived the second time the problem still existed. So…they are now back at the factory. We will have them back in a couple of weeks, and then finally be able to proceed with installation.

I will be SO delighted to finally be able to see the wh0le wall up!! It provides a real cautionary note about working with new or unfamiliar processes! I’ve done major painting projects for years, and a couple of mosaic projects, which have all been delivered on time and without any hitches. But I certainly would like to be able to feel free about proposing projects which involve other technologies…it’s just a case of having to do extreme ‘due diligence’ and research. Complicating the issue is that so many projects have short lead times. It seems they can get a building almost finished and suddenly decide they need some art…in a month…finished. The dream would be to collaborate on projects, from the git go, with all involved. I also realize that this happens if your name is  Irwin, or Serra or Koons…

When this is finished I’ll post some views here, probably in late June or early July.