Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Statues are EVERYWHERE part IV (and we get snow!)

I've got to wonder if this is what the artist had in mind for this bit of public art:



Librarians often use the word READ as a motif...
I just had never thought of using the word as a bike rack!
(More bang for your tax payer buck, wouldn't you say?)

I giggled about the BOOKS part of the scupltural design.
Are the librarians just being bossy boots about reading books, and never you mind about reading blogs or newspapers or the back of cereal boxes!
Gorgeous building. Simply gorgeous.

The trolley/TRAX system has a stop in front (or is the back or is it the side??) of the library. Each stop has location related artwork; the library's is piles of books, some more neatly stacked than others.

I didn't get across the street to check out the titles of the book etched in the glass behind the seats. I'm hoping the titles are classics, or a bit tongue in cheek even.
As it is, the people waiting for their train sort of look like they have been placed on the shelves as well, waiting for someone to come along and check them out and enjoy their stories as well.
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PS: The new header is of the Wasatch mountain range right after last weekends high altitutude snowfall. The yellow aspen blazed just below the snow line, and I could hardly keep my eyes on the road as I drove south to the Cottonwood area on Highway 15. Lucky for me, at the turn off there was a red light, and my sunroof was retracted to get a quick shot!
As I type this, I am awaiting our first in town snow fall. The temperature is at an appropriate 34 degrees, and all of us are snuggled in awaiting a touch of pre-winter wonderland.
Can't wait to see how the cats take to it!
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Ten mintes later.....

Yup, we've got SNOW!!!
A bit blurry, but you can see how much is on the cars already. I must say it is nice to know that we won't be shoveling snow before church tomorrow: a "life in an apartment" perk for us! Plus our cars are parked in the underground garage to boot.
This apartment is amazing; we sit with sliding glass door open and watch the trees be whipped with wind, and the temperature is dropping, but it is still warm inside for us.
The apartment manager said that he has never had to turn on the heat in his own apartment; the place is just well insulated, and facing so the storms don't challenge the window.
Living in the heart of the city in an apartment is really a lot of fun!

Monday, October 06, 2008

The statues are EVERYWHERE! part III

I finally got around to exploring the front side of the SLC library .

It is such a huge building. Notice the two little people heading towards the building.
Yeah...that big!

The girl walking towards you is about to cross in front of a waterfall....

Here's a closer shot of the waterfall.
(There are an awful lot of waterfalls in SLC. I don't know how anyone with urgent bladder issues survives venturing out into public around here....)
The Body Worlds sign behind the waterfall is advertising the exhibition of human bodies that have been posed and peeled down to muscles and bones and such.
Everyone at work is very excited about this exhibition.
I keep trying to talk myself into going to see it...but... I'm...not...quite...ready...to see it....yet.
Anatomy: Not my thing.
The Body World sign is about half of a city block long!
On the other side of the water fall is ANOTHER waterfall!
And a garden which is reach by walking down some steps.

It is a sculpture garden. Isn't that a neat idea for the front of a library?
It is a fairly new garden, judging from the size of the trees that are turning yellow.
In a few years, this should be quite an interesting little park like setting.

Each of the sculptures in this garden are created by someone from Zimbabwe, a country on the African continent.

I marveled at the fact that I was standing in a garden in SLC, enjoying the creation of an African man named Nesbert, whom I otherwise would have never had know a thing about.
I think if I ever did meet him, I would have to just call him by his first name.
That last name looks like quite a tongue twister!
Each sculpture was done by a different Zimbabwe artist. I had to wonder who discovered these artists, and am so appreciative that the Rotary Club was willing to pay for them and have them shipped over to America to grace the library grounds.

(By the way...it was starting to rain while I was taking these pictures; the spots on the sculptures are raindrops!)

The artistic representation of the human form is so different than the artist who created the frolicking children, yet I find these forms to be quite engaging as well.

There's something rather noble about each piece, and yet silent too. Funny how the sculpted children seemed to have sound, while these seem to study their world in watchful silence.

I loved how the artist who created this piece managed to represent the tradition wrapped cloth head dress of the African woman with parts of the stone left natural.
She has such a demure dignity about her!

I would love to have a sculpture like this deep in my own garden.
Actually, it is pretty cool to remember that as a citizen of SLC, this IS my garden, and I can visit "my" garden whenever I want!
Pure enjoyment, no mowing or trimming or weeding to be done.
Such a deal.
There is just something about seeing sculptures out of doors. It is a completely different experience than seeing a sculpture inside a gallery.
I can't wait to see what the sculptures will look like in the snow.
I'm going to have a chance to find out soon; we are supposed to get out first snowfall in town this weekend.
I have a feeling I will feel a little sorry for the African pieces.
They look like they are not really people who would relish being cold.
Not unlike the few Africans that I have met here. They tended to walk about wrapped in blankets even when it was quite warm out....I wonder how they will do when the snow begins to fly?
I also wish I could visit the garden with someone from Africa.
I'd love to hear what they thought about the works, based on their own cultural sensibilities.
I wonder if their thoughts would be different or the same as mine.
What did YOU think about them?
Come on...share a bit.
It will be like virtually going to see the sculptures together!

Sunday, October 05, 2008

The Statues are EVERYWHERE part II: Sweet statues...

I don't know if the same artist does all the children sculptures around town. I often find child sculptures in the most surprising places as I go about my day.

These particular sculptures are in a small park in the front of the library. They all glow with the intensity of children fully engaged in life.

A young boy's first madcap ride on a two wheeler, pedalling for all he is worth (even if he's still helped a bit with a set of training wheels...)

Who hasn't felt the exuberant joy of doing cartwheels across a lawn?



Or held a baby high, so high the baby's eyes got big, and then you both giggled in delight?

Which face shows more joy...the little girl's?

Or the mom?

All around the front of this grassy hillock sculpture garden is a clear glass wall etched with names.

And a few stories about other moms and children, of men and women, boys and girls who through their death gave life to others.

The park is dedicated to the celebration of life...

And a tribute to organ donors and their families.
I can't help choking up a bit when I read the writings of parents who gave their children's organs so that others could frolic upon the earth.

The sculpture garden is a marvelous way to honor such a meaningful gift.
A special way to remember and celebrate what has been selflessly done at a time of great sorrow.
Finding a way to turn sorrow into laughter.

Sculptures are EVERYWHERE!

This town is absolutely crazy about public art! And I find it especially nice that all of it is either whimsical, or sweet. Take the weather vane man above. It's a man; it's a plane; the propellers spin in the breeze as he swoops and pivots about.

A single propeller, (or is it a seedling?) flies along right beside him.

They inhabit a small lavender planted median on the street that I take to work.


A quarter of a block further down the street is this tribute to the joys of paper airplanes. Or at least that's what I think it is.

Right behind it is a beehive, with bees that are shaped like flying pigs.

Why flying bee pigs?

I have no idea.
But I do know they give a by passer a reason to chuckle in the morning!


That's a good enough reason anyway, don't you think?
(I drive to work with the sun rise shining in my eyes, and these sculputures look just amazing glistening with morning dew!)