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SFAC & EbM Public Art Proposals 2010/2011

Over 2010 and 2011 I was invited to make four separate proposals for public art commissions. The first three were for the San Francisco Arts Commission at two different sites. The fourth was for Earthbound Moon in Slaton, Texas. Ultimately, none of these proposals were realized. In the case of SFAC, other proposals were selected. In the case of EbM, there were issues with the property owner that made it impossible to proceed. The exercises were none-the-less fruitful for developing approaches to making art within the relatively narrow parameters dictated by public agencies, project budgets, community desires and the specifics of a given site. Brief descriptions of each project follow below.

Lungs/Tree, McCoppin Street Community Garden Project, San Francisco, CA
Designated for the central planting bed of the new garden this project proposes an inverted human “bronchial tree” (the network of air passages in the lungs where the exchange of oxygen for carbon dioxide takes place) enlarged to the proportions of a street tree, about 18 feet in height. This structure would be fabricated from decreasing diameters of stainless steel pipe, tube, and rod (15” at the base, down to ½” at the outer branches). The surface of the stainless steel would be treated with a chemical to produce the oxidized orange-brown patina depicted in the renderings.

Past, Present, Past, Palega Recreation Center, San Francisco, CA
This proposed photo-mural involves creating a new image based on an old one. The old one is a black and white photograph from the late 1920s of the Portola Junior High basketball team. The new image would also be a photograph, shot in black and white with a similar painted backdrop, lighting, and arrangement of players and coaches, only the players and coaches would be the current boys and girls’ basketball teams from Martin Luther King Middle School (built on the former site of Portola Junior High).

The new image would be enlarged to approximately 13 feet tall by 16 feet wide, making the figures slightly larger than life. The image would be printed on a series of porcelain enamel panels, mounted on an interior wall, but visible from the street through the recreation center’s south-facing windows. A small porcelain enamel panel mounted near the mural would feature the original photograph, a short project description, and a key identifying the players in the new image.

Portola Greenhouse Museum, Palega Playground, San Francisco, CA
The size and proportions of the frame structure in this proposal are based on the ruins of the University Mound Nursery’s greenhouses located only a few blocks south of the Palega Playground. While the new structure refers specifically to the University Mound ruins (which will disappear in time) it also becomes the scaffolding for telling the broader history of agriculture in the Portola neighborhood through a series of porcelain enamel graphic panels.

The Gnomon Nose Waters Plaza, Slaton, TX
"Gnomon" is an ancient Greek word meaning “indicator”, “one who discerns,” or “that which reveals.” It is also the term for the part of a sundial that casts the shadow, or "reveals" the time. This proposal involves creating a larger-than-life, but otherwise realistic, bronze sculpture of the nose of Slaton’s namesake, Oscar Lowe Slaton (1867-1946). This nose would become the gnomon (or shadow-casting device) for a sundial mounted atop a plinth in Waters Plaza.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_07_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. Aerial view of project site.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_01_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. Image research for bronchial trees.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_02_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. Pencil sketch with digital color; 9" x 12."

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_03_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. 3D model; view looking east.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_04_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. 3D model; view looking west.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_05_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. Digital rendering.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_mccopin_06_web.jpg
Lungs/Tree 2010

Proposal for the McCoppin Street Community Garden Project; San Francisco Arts Commission. 3D models; plan view (top), sectional elevation (bottom).

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_01_web.jpg
Past, Present, Past and Portola Greenhouse 2010

Proposals for the Palega Recreation Center and Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. Aerial view of project site.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_07_web.jpg
Past, Present, Past 2010

Proposal for the Palega Recreation Center; San Francisco Arts Commission. Late 1920's photograph of the Portola Junior High basketball team.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_08_web.jpg
Past, Present, Past 2010

Proposal for the Palega Recreation Center; San Francisco Arts Commission. Spread from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School 2010 yearbook.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_09_web.jpg
Past, Present, Past 2010

Proposal for the Palega Recreation Center; San Francisco Arts Commission. Spread from Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School 2010 yearbook.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_10_web.jpg
Past, Present, Past 2010

Proposal for the Palega Recreation Center; San Francisco Arts Commission. Sketch-up model; view of photo-mural through exterior windows.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_11_web.jpg
Portola Greenhouse Museum 2010

Proposal for the Palega Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. University Mound Nursery in 1952 (greenhouses on the left) with encroaching residential housing.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_02_web.jpg
Portola Greenhouse Museum 2010

Proposal for the Palega Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. University Mound Nursery greenhouses today.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_06_web.jpg
Portola Greenhouse Museum 2010

Proposal for the Palega Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. Sketch-up model; plan view.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_03_web.jpg
Portola Greenhouse Museum 2010

Proposal for the Palega Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. Sketch-up model; view looking southwest.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_04_web.jpg
Portola Greenhouse Museum 2010

Proposal for the Palega Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. Sketch-up model; view looking north.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_sfac_palega_05_web.jpg
Portola Greenhouse Museum 2010

Proposal for the Palega Playground; San Francisco Arts Commission. Sketch-up model; detail of interior.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_01_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Aerial view of project site.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_02_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Portraits of Oscar Lowe Slaton, namesake of Slaton, Texas.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_03_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Close-up of Slaton's nose.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_07_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Digital collage.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_04_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Pencil sketch with digital color; 9" x 12;" overview of waters plaza.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_05_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Pencil sketch with digital color; 9" x 12;" sundial plinth.

 
https://scottoliverworks.com:443/files/gimgs/th-14_ebm_slaton_06_web.jpg
The Gnomon Nose 2011

Proposal for Waters Plaza, Slaton, Texas; Earthbound Moon. Pencil sketch with digital color; 9" x 12;" face of sundial.