Newly arrived visitors driving along JFK Blvd. at Rankin Rd. will soon encounter a landscape-appropriate welcome to our marshy city after they land at Bush Intercontinental Airport: three 60-ft. pipe assemblies festooned with animated LED light arrays on cables. New York artist Dennis Oppenheim sees the lights as
representing a giant twenty five foot tear drop falling into a pool, creating the upward sensation of a splash, which rises to sixty feet and consists of a multitude of colored lights cascading and sparkling toward the top and beyond, emerging in bright, spherical globes; representing giant droplets.
No stuck-in-the-muds here! Andrew Vrana of local architecture firm Metalab, who’s coordinating the installation, tells Swamplot the sculptures will have an 18-ft. diameter at the base and a 50-ft. diameter at the top. He says all 3 should be in place and complete “later this spring.”
Metalab’s blog has pix of a few of the pieces:
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Oppenheim won the million-dollar commission to replace the existing JFK Blvd. “Welcome to Houston” sign from the Houston Arts Alliance last spring. Funding comes from the city’s “percent for art ordinance.”
- Radiant Fountains [Metalab]
- “Radiant Fountain” Wins the One Million Dollar Houston Arts Alliance Gateway Commission [Dennis Oppenheim’s Blog]
Photos: Flickr user zadriana (existing sign); Metalab (sculpture verticals)
So these towers… do they pump oil?
No, they pump elf tears, which are less useful but more valuable.
It’s actually a bug-zapper to bring Wayne Deltrafino… he is attracted to the glow of money being spent on anything other than polyester suits and Golden Corral.
Almost as tacky as the silver arches on Post Oak. Which were no doubt inspired by the golden arches of McDonalds. I shudder to think what inspired this.
Could be worse. They could have decided to rename JFK Boulevard and called it President’s Way and installed all the homeless 50 foot tacky sculptures of some of our more illustrious former presidents. A couple of whom couldn’t get elected dogcatcher at this point.
Instead we will have what look like 50 foot tomato cages. Without the tomatoes.
I think they’ll look pretty cool at night. But I like the presidents idea. To pay homage to vernacular Houston artforms, though, the presidents should be inflatable.
I prefer to think it is a nice homage to breast augmentations past and breast augmentations future. A Dr. Rose by any other name…
Dear Matt Mystery, is there anything that actually makes you happy because you seem to be a very bitter soul …
I agree w/you Jimbo. Matt M. sure dislikes a lot…makes me wonder if he is a stealth Dullassite, where Houston-hating is taught beginning at the kindergarten level (?).
I think these will be drop-dead gorgeous at night w/new LED technology.
Wow – 50 ft diameter at the top. Not petite!
I hope they look sharp in the daytime, but they’ll definitely be winners at night.
Bravo!
…and there are no “silver arches” on Post Oak…might want to look again, Matt Misery, and improve on the p-poor McDonald’s analogy.
At least bitch accurately!
I just wonder how long it will take the LED lights to burn out or malfunction. And, then, how long it will take them to replace them (if at all), like on the SW Freeway.
The only praise I can heap upon it is “it could be worse, I guess?”
I think these will look pretty cool at night. I think comparing them to the giant silver cockrings in the Galleria is unfair.
Dear Matt Mystery, is there anything that actually makes you happy because you seem to be a very bitter soul …
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Actually the Menil makes me happy. Gives me a little rush every time I walk over there.
…and there are no “silver arches†on Post Oak…might want to look again, Matt Misery, and improve on the p-poor McDonald’s analogy.
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Well what do you call those silver things over Post Oak? Wishbones?
I forgot about the “cockrings” as well. Hopefully both will disappear when Metro lays the line so to speak. Of course the trees will disappear. Along with possibly a building or two. They built the Hampton and Neiman-Marcus a little too close to the street with regard to “improvement” of Post Oak. Same problem with Woodway.
Could be OK at night from 2000 feet, but when I saw it today, I thought it looked like something Keith Olbermann designed
I thought they looked like the strange mushrooms from an episode of Stargate SG1
I thought they were crowns. They look like something an enormous ‘Glenda the Good Witch’ left behind. But I agree I bet they’ll look very cool at night.
This is our Tax dollars at work, can you all believe that, I can think of quite a lot more things our tax dollars can do in this city, Can you all believe we elect these people.