The best thing about these new sculptures standing next to the east wall of the Paramount Theater is they are fenced in. When the chain-link fence is removed, and there’s nothing between us and them, everything that makes them bad (bad idea, bad imagination, bad motives) will oppress us like the heated talk of a man, a poet, who is excited by the sun of his own inspiration.
I love this paragraph from Charles Mudede, who is the poet of whom he speaks, excited by the sun of his own inspiration. Note he doesn’t mention the artist, Ries Niemi, or the name, rank and serial number of the piece, Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.
Neimi responded by signing, under his name, bad idea, bad imagination, bad motives. Jen Graves added in a later post, “I’m sorry, Ries. But I really can’t countenance those things.”
She noted that the sculptures have been removed to “make way for the next phrase of light rail construction.” She didn’t say the sculptures were commissioned by Sound Transit START Public Art Program, which means they’ll be back.
Images: Click to enlarge. First image from SIMS Conference, 2008, second from Slog.
According to the Niemi, his piece consists of…
3 totem poles for the 21’st Century, collaged from images of contemporary culture, food and drink.
Ranging in height from 16 to 18 feet, and 8 feet in diameter, these glittering stainless steel figures are anthrophomorpic but not human. They are made from different textures of forged and fabricated stainless steel.
The site is a small urban park whose reason for existance is the Vent Shaft for the Sound Transit tunnel under Capitol Hill.
In other words, the piece was created to accompany a park that isn’t there yet. Placing it in a bleak section of urban wasteland was intended to perk up the wasteland. Instead, all the ire the place attracts found a focal point. And that’s what Lawrence Alloway, writing brilliantly in the 1970s about public art, thought it should be, a “focal point for an undeferentiated audience.”
At this point, Niemi took a bullet for a hideous stretch of city property. Will the reputation of this piece rise against a better backdrop? If there’s any justice, yes.
Eat, Drink and Be Merry is now located at the corner of Forest and Airport Way, in South Seattle, on the Northwest corner of the Metro bus yard, and will stay there, as far as I know, for something like 5 years. Sound Transit tells me they will eventually return to Pine Street.
In their present singular fashion, side by side or no, I cannot muster very much compassion for these works.
Now, as the word totem would imply, if they were mounted atop one another, I think I would love this assemblage.
Ries’s skill level with metal continues to impress and should not be discounted by anyone.
As a retired flooring guy, I once carpeted the Greek Church of The Assumption on Capitol Hill. While working on this difficult job, it was disconcerting to have every member of the church express opinion over the work I was doing.
On the bright side for Ries, negative publicity is better than no publicity at all.
So Ries, take a fool’s advice and don’t consider this work completed as yet. Mount them in totem fashion. You have the skills, so humor me why doncha?
Im sorry, im not trying to be mean but those things are the most offensive ugly pieces of public art we have in Seattle. I died a little when I saw them. Stan F.