Slog

News & Arts

Line Out

Music & the City
at Night

« Reading Tonight | Great—Now Everybody Is Mad at… »

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Visual Art Currently Hanging

Posted by Jen Graves on Wed, Nov 12, 2008 at 10:36 AM

^{Roger Shimomura's Rainier Valley Haiku (2008), steel and fiberglass, 20 feet tall}

At the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Way and South Myrtle Street.

The other day I found myself marooned near this sculpture—it was installed as part of the public art program for the not-yet-working Light Rail system (expected to start running July 2009)—after I missed my bus stop. It's not so interesting on the surface; just another work of enlarged pop sculpture. But it has an interesting back story. Where you see a dreamsicle, that position in the pile was originally reserved for a banana. When it was proposed to the public, it drew protests: "banana" is the equivalent for Asians of the derogatory term "oreo" for blacks. Artist Roger Shimomura dreamsicle response is clever and edgier than the original: he made something that is not only yellow on the outside and white on the inside, but is also under threat of melting (falling prey to the American "pot").

Comments (16) RSS

Oldest First Unregistered On Registered On Add a comment

I wish that bowl was my actual bowl for eating delicious ramen.

Posted by Mikki on November 12, 2008 at 10:44 AM

Dreamsicle is much better than creamsicle. I hope you leave it like that.

Posted by snakes on November 12, 2008 at 10:46 AM

meh . . .

It's no GIANT FUCKING TRAFFIC CONES!!

edgy factor=1.5

Posted by edgardiazrocks on November 12, 2008 at 10:48 AM

Does nobody else hate this for sheer esthetic reasons? Banana, dreamsicle, oreo, blah blah, what about ugly? Doesn't ugly matter at all to anyone?

Posted by Phoebe on November 12, 2008 at 12:18 PM

@4: Ugly matters.

Posted by Aislinn on November 12, 2008 at 12:34 PM

@4 - I'm with ya. Sure, I get the "import" of the objects and the banana story is pretty funny, but... Looking at this strictly as a piece of Art........

Blyecccchh. Do Not Want.

:(

Posted by merry on November 12, 2008 at 1:14 PM

Looks like a leftover from the Macheesmo Mouse empire.

Posted by it'smarkmitchellgoddamnit on November 12, 2008 at 1:20 PM

wow, what a colossal foolish pile of worthless shit! plop art epitomized!

Posted by Kinkos on November 12, 2008 at 1:40 PM

Maybe it will look better in 10 years when the fiberglass cracks, the paint fades and it is covered in bird shit, moss and graffiti. This thing is like a new pair of shoes. And if that doesn't fix it, maybe the artist can put a big cherry on top.

Posted by hot fudge sundae on November 12, 2008 at 2:10 PM

It is just as bad as the three wire abominations next to the Paramount. when did Seattle become the dumping-ground for horribly kitschy public art?

Posted by inkweary on November 12, 2008 at 2:22 PM

This city is in dire need of some great new pieces of public sculpture. This one? No.

Posted by homage to me on November 12, 2008 at 5:20 PM

doesn't touch georgetown's hat and boots.

http://www.cysewski.com/seattleweb/07geo…

so sad to see that go.

Posted by bitch, please. on November 12, 2008 at 8:17 PM

Huh? The Hat and Boots are going somewhere?

Last I heard the Hat was getting refurbished there in its new location in Oxbow Park in Georgetown.... The Boots were just freshly painted not too long ago.......

Posted by merry on November 12, 2008 at 8:31 PM

@merry. sorry, i didn't mean to imply that they were gone forever.

i meant the view of them as you drove down east marginal.

Posted by bitch, please. on November 12, 2008 at 9:49 PM

I wonder if any of the folks who have left comments so far are anything but White. If you were part of the community or culture where this piece lives, it might have a little more relevance to you. Good on the artist for engaging the community where the work lives.

Posted by Gern on November 13, 2008 at 9:30 AM

#15, If I were part of the community or culture that is being trivialized by a literal pile of cliches about my community/culture, AND expected to look past its esthetic value because "hey, it's talking about me!" then I'd be pissed off twice.

Posted by Phoebe on November 13, 2008 at 3:19 PM