Fragile – Moon of Alabama

August 25, 2006

Fragile

by James Parker & beq

beq wrote yesterday:

My SO, James, and I have been working together on a project all summer.

This is a piece for an outdoor sculpture show in an industrial area of Richmond
that is slowly becoming a gallery/artist’s community and there is a successful
micro-brewery in the district as well.

We installed it a little over a week ago at the brewery and the opening is
tomorrow night. I’ve been trying to get good nighttime photos of it because it
is lit from outside and within. It’s hard because it’s basically colorless and
the etched glass panels are very subtle. It suggests an urban kiosk and we are
making a statement about the environment and human effect and the risk to the
future.

The website for the exhibition is here. I warn you that it is interactive and tedious.

There is bigger version (150kb) of the picture available and a detail view (240kb).

Posted by b on August 25, 2006 at 16:54 UTC | Permalink

Comments

nice, beq. would definitely like to see it all lit up. the sketch helped to get an idea of all the panels. let us know how the opening goes. is this a permanent outdoor piece?

Posted by: b real | Aug 25 2006 17:57 utc | 1

Wonderful work beq…
Beautiful yet haughting, as I listen to Miles Davis – Ascenseur Pour L’e´chafaud (ELEVATOR TO THE GALLOWS)
The depiction of symbolism in the kiosk is a staunch reflection of the dire entropy of the day. I believe the kiosk is Turkish, and in Colin Thurbon’s , “Lost Heart of Asia” he mentions the kiosk is used as a newsstand for public notices, and now days, advertisements. But in many small communities and villages it is the main source of News and events.
I like the etched spider best. I have an affinity for the spider/web imfamous symbolism. I have the gift (curse?) of seeing the web within many of todays events. And I hope you can get it photographed in the right light as I bet it would be quite a sight to see.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 25 2006 18:19 utc | 2

Yeah, Miles.
Please take note that James was my equal partner (if not more) in this. He definitely did the heavy lifting. Amazing how it fell together for us. I have some night shots but plan to get more. It will be in place until the end of October. [I think it ends up in my yard after that.]

Posted by: beq | Aug 25 2006 19:16 utc | 3

Uncle,
The term kiosk is originally Arabic, and is derived from a word for the private palace of a caliph within the larger palace. The English version of the term is takes the smaller, independently standing aspect of the word, and forgets the opulent palace part.

Posted by: Rowan | Aug 25 2006 21:09 utc | 4

stunning. i love the juxtapositioning of the glass and cement. the fragile vs durable fits so well with the concept. i have the pleasure of having a few other photos, and closer up. the first time i saw them it took my breath away.
it certainly looks difficult to achieve. i am wondering if all your panels worked the first time around or if you made some duplicates.
quite an achievement, would make an excellent permanent fixture.

Posted by: annie | Aug 26 2006 4:36 utc | 5

too cool! I live up in Culpeper- I’m totally going. Beautiful work, beq, and if yours is representative of what’ll be there it should be a great exhibition.

Posted by: DrawMonkeyDraw | Aug 26 2006 11:37 utc | 6

Very nice beq & partner, ephemeral/concrete, are the etched glass panels all pictures of nature? Who chose the site?

Posted by: anna missed | Aug 27 2006 3:26 utc | 7

Thanks everyone. The opening was very nice. A huge crowd it seemed. I’ll find out later. Last year (the first) only friends and family were expected and over a thousand showed up. There are half a dozen or so docents who conduct walking tours beginning at the sponsoring gallery where another sculpture opening was held. They ended up at the brewery with the reception.
We chose the kiosk as a structure before we really knew where we were going with it. And of course, it implies public notice. I suppose it began with James wanting to cast the icon used to designate fallout shelters and while I was looking for an image to use for a template I found the others for biohazard, gas mask, caution, poison, etc. At that point the concept formed and we agreed on nature and fragility as the theme for the etched glass. Only two images changed in the process. The fighter jet was veering off into another subject and became prison bars. One of the concrete panels was the international symbol for family with the child crossed off in red (the only color). To offset that, we changed one of the glass panels to show a child’s hand reaching up to an adult’s. [or the other way around].
There are 17 sculptures this year. I think there were 12 last year. All the sites are on private property to avoid having to apply for city permits. We asked for a site with power for lights and this was the only one. We have two interior lights (top and bottom) on a timer and four exterior floods that operate on photo cells.
The base is steel on a 32″ square concrete pad. Altogether it’s 20″x20″x130″. The roof is composed of formed concrete and the Japanese hiragana (below the roof) read ‘fragile’.
Thanks again, b and others.

Posted by: beq | Aug 27 2006 15:10 utc | 8

beq, i didn’t realize the mandala at the bottom right was a pre existing symbol. can you elaborate for me.

Posted by: annie | Aug 27 2006 15:20 utc | 9

Hi annie! That’s the icon for biohazard. Next time you go to the doctor, look for it where the medical waste is disposed. I watched V for Vendetta last night and noticed that it was used on the pamphlets that the little girl (Evie) passed around in the street when her family was protesting the 80,000 dead from the virus attack. [great movie, btw].

Posted by: beq | Aug 27 2006 15:26 utc | 10

i’ve seem the icon multiple times no doubt (i agree great movie). it’s beautiful yet threatening, almost hypnotic.

Posted by: annie | Aug 27 2006 15:39 utc | 11

Beq,
Great work! Such an important message that too many everywhere are ignoring at our peril. Sorry haven’t commented sooner, been going a lot. How about an update regarding local comments and the show?
Been reading Uncle $cams post on latest Open Thread “GMO Whistleblower” and it reminded me of your kiosk – almost too much to think about.

Posted by: Rick Happ | Sep 5 2006 15:26 utc | 12

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