Travelling Light (AKA a blue circle)

[Slava]

I'm surprised no other thread is here, but what do you think of our new piece of public art? This is what you get for $470k these days!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/mayor-calls-470k-blue-ring-billed-as-public-art-awful-1.1930104

[Canada 02]

It's no Voice of Fire

[You Need a Thneed]

Twitter: @giantbluering

[First Lady]

Dang YNAT beat me to it.,,,, https://twitter.com/GiantBlueRing

I don't think "art" should be the issue. Art is neither good or bad; right or wrong. It's meant to invoke feelings and discussion.

What I think the issue should be is how much and the process taken by government. Some would argue that in times of budget crisis we should cut back or eliminate.

Personally I can see the value of public art. So that we don't end up surrounded in concrete and metal. I think the 1% on larger projects shouldn't be all for one piece.

I'd rather see them call it a "beautification fund" of "up to 1%". That way they can seek input and ideas outside the "arts community" and they have the ability to spend less.

[Shawnski]

FirstLady posted in the funny thread about the Tick. First thing I thought of as well.

Didn't know it was almost half a million though... WTF?

[Knalus]

Dang YNAT beat me to it.,,,, https://twitter.com/GiantBlueRing

I don't think "art" should be the issue. Art is neither good or bad; right or wrong. It's meant to invoke feelings and discussion.

What I think the issue should be is how much and the process taken by government. Some would argue that in times of budget crisis we should cut back or eliminate.

Personally I can see the value of public art. So that we don't end up surrounded in concrete and metal. I think the 1% on larger projects shouldn't be all for one piece.

I'd rather see them call it a "beautification fund" of "up to 1%". That way they can seek input and ideas outside the "arts community" and they have the ability to spend less.

I totally agree with this point. Any one larger piece over, say, $250,000 needs council approval.

[TurnedTheCorner]

I don't care.

[Northendzone]

I fail to understand the rhubarb over the cost of this thing - I mean how many times has an artist painted something minimalists and had a government come along and offer to pay $10 or more millions for it? $500,000 is a deal.

Persoanlly, I would have been happy with a giant picture of dogs playing games of chance.....

[Dion]

Looks like an oversided hula hoop.

http://creoleindc.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c5e0053ef01156f17871c970c-800wi

[Bunk]

My favourite name for it thus far is "bloop". Aesthetically, the ring doesn't bother me so much as the lights on top.

This is a problem with how the public art program functions vis-à-vis who is funding the infrastructure project - if it's city funded the policy allows funds to be pooled and placement of art can happen where it will have a greater public benefit - like a park or something. If it's provincial funds, they require the art component to be attached to the actual infrastructure project.

[nik-]

It seems odd. Like a strange place to put it and sort of weird to see it with a random field and power lines behind it.

[CaptainCrunch]

Ridiculous waste of money. I should have gone to art school, I guess you don't have to be creative or good anymore.

Stupid amount of money that should have never been approved.

[getbak]

HuffPost Alberta ‏@HuffPostAlberta
No one, and we mean NO ONE, likes this piece of ... public art. #yyc http://huff.to/19ljq7i

Travelling Light ‏@GiantBlueRing
@HuffPostAlberta Ya, no one liked Matt Stajan either when he first got here, now the guy's a freaking folk hero. You just wait.....


:D

[trackercowe]

Should have gotten a Probot like from King of the Hill instead; at least it wouldn't have cost 500k.

[Ace]

It's just a big circle...how can that have been designed by an 'artist'?

The streetlights on top are hilarious, how completely out of place. I suppose that's one way to absorb the cost of the 1% public art (one less street light needed in the real budget)

[worth]

They should set up a giant inflatable basketball on the road and have cars try to score a basket through the blue hoop. If you get it in, you get a lollipop.

[Pontine]

I don't mind it, but the placement is odd.

[Slava]

My favourite name for it thus far is "bloop". Aesthetically, the ring doesn't bother me so much as the lights on top.


That's exactly what I think. I actually think its neat, especially if it lights up (which I think it does?). Its a weird place for it to be, but then again in a number of years, once there is more around it in general, it might look really nice.

[Kavvy]

I hate it, but I guess that is art.

[FlamesAddiction]

This is like something Tom Green would do as a joke.

[killer_carlson]

Has anyone asked an inumbant alderman or the mayor if the people who approved this choice of submission still have their jobs?

[TurdFerguson]

Looks like a giant dyson fan to me. Assuming it can move a proportional amount of air both quietly and safely then it's good value.

[First Lady]

I don't mind it, but the placement is odd.

Yeah, it should have been placed perpendicular to roadway and have a natural gas flames shooting towards the middle. The ultimate burning ring of fire that you can drive through. :D

[You Need a Thneed]

Yeah, it should have been placed perpendicular to roadway and have a natural gas flames shooting towards the middle. The ultimate burning ring of fire that you can drive through. :D

Don't forget the ramp on either side.

[Ducay]

It looks like you're making some art! Why don't you make it look like me?

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/519285ffecad046054000014-480/microsoft-clippy.jpg http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/cms/binary/9013449.jpg

[albertGQ]

I don't like the art or the price tag for it.

[Mazrim]

Wasn't the fish on Glenmore Trail also obtained through this 1% of budget process? That's not one piece of art.

I'm happy they want to force them to spend some money on public art in these projects. It's a slippery slope if people don't like one piece and ask for this 1% to be dropped to 0.5% or even lower, and suddenly we're back where we started....bland infrastructure.

[KTrain]

I think they just need to spend another $1.8 million to get it finished in time for our next Olympic bid.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2383490/CPPictures/calgary-O.png

[jayswin]

My favorite thing in this thread is how Dion compared it to a hoola hoop, and then provided a picture of a set of hoola hoops for reference.

[MRCboicgy]

First thing I thought of was Nuva Bling
E47r1ofYlQM (low quality vid)

It's here to "Glam up Calgary's Clam"

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm proud that this city is completely on the bleeding edge of sexual awareness.

First we have a giant dildo plunging into the back side of the downtown core

Then we added a enormous c$$k ring in the North.

I can't wait to see the massive butt plug rising majestically out of the downtown core.

Maybe we can put a massive lubricant bottle in the NE

[Slava]

I'm proud that this city is completely on the bleeding edge of sexual awareness.

First we have a giant dildo plunging into the back side of the downtown core

Then we added a enormous c$$k ring in the North.

I can't wait to see the massive butt plug rising majestically out of the downtown core.

Maybe we can put a massive lubricant bottle in the NE

I have no idea what you're talking about....you must be single though?

[FlamesAddiction]

I'm proud that this city is completely on the bleeding edge of sexual awareness.

First we have a giant dildo plunging into the back side of the downtown core

Then we added a enormous c$$k ring in the North.

I can't wait to see the massive butt plug rising majestically out of the downtown core.

Maybe we can put a massive lubricant bottle in the NE

I was thinking that it looks more like a big girl's IUD.

[CaptainCrunch]

I was thinking that it looks more like a big girl's IUD.

Oh excuse me Mrs Barr you dropped something

[Muta]

I see that thing as a target for remote control airplanes.

I drove by it back from Edmonton on the weekend and honestly thought it was the structural support for something else that was going to go up there. My noodle was baked when I found out that was the finished product.

Now - given the history of the Peace Bridge... I'll say this - people will hate it now, and then grow to love it for some weird cult-like reason. 50 years from now, it will be a part of Calgary and citizens will prevent it from being removed or torn down.

[KevanGuy]

What I find most irritating about this art is that the city paid a German designer for it! If they have to spend the 1% they should at least keep the money in the local economy.

[Bane]

I'm looking forward to when U of C engineering students suspend a car from it.

[calumniate]

Worst reinvention of the wheel ever

[burn_this_city]

I hope someone flies a helicopter through it.

[CaptainCrunch]

They need to build a big boy statue with a stick standing next to it. Then it will be an awesome and crass piece of true garbage art.

[Rathji]

ok, so looking at it (and totally dismissing costs for now) I think it would be kind of interesting to have these kinds of loops of various sizes all down the section of road in question. I wonder how much it would cost, both in design and construction costs, and paying for the IP.

Just one loop seems strange to me.

[Muta]

What I find most irritating about this art is that the city paid a German designer for it! If they have to spend the 1% they should at least keep the money in the local economy.

I don't necessarily agree with this.

This specific piece of art is a pile of crap, IMO, but I welcome the idea of having international art in our city. Just because it's local doesn't make it better.

[19Yzerman19]

I'm looking forward to when U of C engineering students suspend a car from it.
This has been addressed by the ring via twitter.

Travelling Light ‏@GiantBlueRing15h (https://twitter.com/GiantBlueRing/status/388084364132634624)
Attn all @UCalgary (https://twitter.com/UCalgary) engineering students, I've heard some talk, and NO, you can't hang a small car from me, it won't work, trust me, move on

[CaptainCrunch]

It would be worth it for them to try. If you hang a car from something and it survives it was meant to be, if it collapses then its crap.

[Brannigans Law]

I hope someone flies a helicopter through it.

Someones playing GTA V too much.

[CaptainCrunch]

If I'm a engineering student, I'm not thinking so much about how to hang a car from it, but how to cut the street lights off, and getting it out of its base to see how far it will roll.

[Regular_John]

This piece specifically is a perfectly unremarkable piece of art in an unremarkable place. But it's far from the worse piece of public art that we own, I personally can't stand the "skywalk" piece above Macleod Trail at the Canyon Meadows station.

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/Skywalk-435w.jpg

It's just an ugly photo that's been stretched/distorted... yet it's part of our public art collection (http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Percent-for-Public-Art.aspx).

However we also have some stuff which I think is great: (http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Percent-for-Public-Art.aspx)

Jumping Trout along Glenmore:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/Jumping-Trout-sq-435.jpg

Transit Story at the 7th Ave platform:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/TransitStory.jpg

If we're spending 1% of our infrastructure budget on stuff like this, and one out of 40+ pieces is unremarkable then I think we're doing pretty good. Sure it's easy to nitpick a single piece and say "that's not worth nearly 1/2 million dollars!" but the collection overall seems to be money well spent. I have no problem with my taxes going towards this.

[You Need a Thneed]

This piece specifically is a perfectly unremarkable piece of art in an unremarkable place. But it's far from the worse piece of public art that we own, I personally can't stand the "skywalk" piece above Macleod Trail at the Canyon Meadows station.

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/Skywalk-435w.jpg

It's just an ugly photo that's been stretched/distorted... yet it's part of our public art collection (http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Percent-for-Public-Art.aspx).

However we also have some stuff which I think is great: (http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Percent-for-Public-Art.aspx)

Jumping Trout along Glenmore:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/Jumping-Trout-sq-435.jpg

Transit Story at the 7th Ave platform:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/TransitStory.jpg

If we're spending 1% of our infrastructure budget on stuff like this, and one out of 40+ pieces is unremarkable then I think we're doing pretty good. Sure it's easy to nitpick a single piece and say "that's not worth nearly 1/2 million dollars!" but the collection overall seems to be money well spent. I have no problem with my taxes going towards this.
I agree with everything in this post.

[bizaro86]

I don't necessarily agree with this.

This specific piece of art is a pile of crap, IMO, but I welcome the idea of having international art in our city. Just because it's local doesn't make it better.

If we're going to spend money on art that you'd describe as "a pile of crap" I'd rather the downstream latte-money stay in our hipster neighbourhoods.

[Minnie]

To quote Mrs Brown, it's fecking ugly. :lol:

Suppose it could be used to entice more movie makers here. Sandra Bullock could jump that bus through it. The Dukes could take the General Lee for a run through it as well. Perhaps the Knievels might be invited or those motorcycle cage riders could go whirling about it - the city could charge money to view and put it toward flood relief and flood mitigation...

[CaptainCrunch]

They should have put an infinity mirror in it

[V]

How tall is that ring? It looks like they're going to need a crane to maintain those lights.

I actually don't think the ring would be that bad on its own, but the lights make it look absolutely ridiculous.

[First Lady]

How tall is that ring? It looks like they're going to need a crane to maintain those lights.

I actually don't think the ring would be that bad on its own, but the lights make it look absolutely ridiculous.

17 meters

[CaptainCrunch]

The ring is stupid on its own, its lazy art, and even the selling point that its a view through a window or portal into the city is utterly stupid because of the placement of the thing.

If your going to buy art buy art, but it your spending half a million bucks on lazy art just so you can pretend to be cultured then its a waist of money.

I can't even say that this is equivalent to putting a Mona Lisa on the wall of a bathroom stall, because its the opposite, its a really ridiculous thing put up just so that they can say they put something up.

I would hope that whoever was on the committee who picked this was blasted for their idiotic choice of art and location and shown the door.

The oldest concept of art is its supposed to illicit conversation and diverse opinion, but that only works if its art that means something and is relevant. When something like 97% of the people polled looked at it and said it was basically the dumbest thing that they'd ever seen, that's the wrong type of reaction or discussion, and its pissing away nearly half a million bucks that could have been spent elsewhere.

I have no problem with beautification, or purchasing art (Thought art at sewage treatment plants is ######ed). But at least have a fricken plan. and a proper location strategy.

In every aspect this is completely dumb.

[Dion]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/cms/binary/9013449.jpg

http://pennyfarthingtours.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Penny-farthing.gif

[Minnie]

It kind of looks like a Muppet or Sesame Street puppet they forgot to finish...

[V]

17 meters

Yeah, so they can't change the lights with a simple bucket truck, which means even more expensive maintenance. Awesome idea.

Looks like yellow lighting, too, so that blue is going to look like ####e at night. Would've been a better idea to go to LED at least.

[GreenLantern]

Almost as bad as when Saskatoon decorated Victoria Bridge with lights:

The bridge's arches were equipped with several series of decorative LED (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_emitting_diode) lights in the summer of 2007. They included a programmable controller that makes the lights change colour and move in different patterns. However, the lights have proved controversial; they cost the city $462,000, which was almost twice the city's original estimate. They have also broken down frequently since installation, fueling further complaints from the public about their high price tag.[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_Bridge_%28Saskatoon%29#cite_note-12)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_Bridge_%28Saskatoon%29

Oh yea, and that bridge is also condemned now and will be torn down.

Great move Atchison!

[Bane]

This has been addressed by the ring via twitter.


I suppose it would be poetic to suspend an outhouse from the ring, rather than a car. Then it would represent both the crap load of money spent on the so called art as well as the public's opinion of it.

[19Yzerman19]

I suppose it would be poetic to suspend an outhouse from the ring, rather than a car. Then it would represent both the crap load of money spent on the so called art as well as the public's opinion of it.
That would be somewhat less of an engineering accomplishment. But it would be less of a knock-off of UBC.

[Bunk]

This piece specifically is a perfectly unremarkable piece of art in an unremarkable place. But it's far from the worse piece of public art that we own, I personally can't stand the "skywalk" piece above Macleod Trail at the Canyon Meadows station.

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/Skywalk-435w.jpg

It's just an ugly photo that's been stretched/distorted... yet it's part of our public art collection (http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Percent-for-Public-Art.aspx).

However we also have some stuff which I think is great: (http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Pages/Public-Art/Percent-for-Public-Art.aspx)

Jumping Trout along Glenmore:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/Jumping-Trout-sq-435.jpg

Transit Story at the 7th Ave platform:
http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/Recreation%20slideshows/Percent-for-Art/TransitStory.jpg

If we're spending 1% of our infrastructure budget on stuff like this, and one out of 40+ pieces is unremarkable then I think we're doing pretty good. Sure it's easy to nitpick a single piece and say "that's not worth nearly 1/2 million dollars!" but the collection overall seems to be money well spent. I have no problem with my taxes going towards this.

I agree - the majority of stuff that's been commissioned through this program is quite good.

I particularly like how the new art they installed at the gateway stations on 7th Ave look - they really fit in with the aesthetic of the whole transit mall corridor (which has turned out very nicely in my opinion). The space beside the new BVC and City Hall used to be horrific - now it's quite a nice, interesting urban space.

I don't have an actual photo yet, but this is the rendering for it:

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/PublishingImages/ArtsAndCulture/PublicArt/cliff.jpg

This object will also be part of the new Barb Scott Park in Beltline, which has some potential

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQK1nahbwZeWhAer04fL9sY1IGOiwSre Sec2QD3wUtUpXo2MTeyhQ

Also, these two locations are clearly ones where the art can be fully appreciated and has a lot of value.

[rayne008]

Almost as bad as when Saskatoon decorated Victoria Bridge with lights:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_Bridge_%28Saskatoon%29

Oh yea, and that bridge is also condemned now and will be torn down.

Great move Atchison!

Reminds me of the freaking clock tower at Shaw Millennium Park. For the life of me I can't understand why they would design a clock tower that a) has such a tiny clock, and b) can't keep the damn thing working. Only once in a while does the actual red led's on the side of the tower work.

And how come they scraped the big green lasers that were in the circular complex in the middle. I've only seen them once, and that was in a drunken stupor in Canada Day about 10 years ago?!

[Cuz]

I'm proud that this city is completely on the bleeding edge of sexual awareness.

First we have a giant dildo plunging into the back side of the downtown core

Then we added a enormous c$$k ring in the North.

I can't wait to see the massive butt plug rising majestically out of the downtown core.

Maybe we can put a massive lubricant bottle in the NE

You sure you don't mean spark plugs?
Potentially,

cUhtv2XOolU

[ranchlandsselling]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/travel/cms/binary/9013449.jpg



Holy crap would I be pissed if I lived in one of those houses.

[Muta]

I particularly like how the new art they installed at the gateway stations on 7th Ave look - they really fit in with the aesthetic of the whole transit mall corridor (which has turned out very nicely in my opinion). The space beside the new BVC and City Hall used to be horrific - now it's quite a nice, interesting urban space.

I don't have an actual photo yet, but this is the rendering for it:

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/PublishingImages/ArtsAndCulture/PublicArt/cliff.jpg

I drove past the old Science Centre the other night and noticed how awesome those new light art installations are. Very, very cool.

[Regulator75]

Here's the guys responsible for this design disaster.

http://ingesidee.de/dateien/grafiken/de/axel_lieber_hans_hemmert_thomas_schmidt_georg_zey_ von_links_nach_rechts_photo_stefan_pielow-m.jpg

http://ingesidee.de/page.php?pgid=132&lang=en

Some of their projects are quite cool, but this one is a dud.

[nik-]

Holy crap would I be pissed if I lived in one of those houses.

why, because it would impede your view of a road?

[Robbob]

You mean it isn't a stargate prototype? That is disappointing.

[FlamesAddiction]

Holy crap would I be pissed if I lived in one of those houses.

So where do you live?

Well, drive 3 blocks to Oak Street, then turn left. Go 2 blocks and it is on your right. You can't miss it... it's right next to the giant blue monstrousity.

[habernac]

They need a machine to move soap through the top, wait for that north wind to pick up, and you get GIANT bubbles floating toward the downtown core.

[WhiteTiger]

Not really my thing. =/

[calumniate]

Anyone seen the hudsucker proxy? Reminds me of that, only way less useful.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/auteurs_production/images/film/the-hudsucker-proxy/w448/the-hudsucker-proxy.jpg?1289429802

'I designed it myself'.. haha!

[Minnie]

Here's the guys responsible for this design disaster.

http://ingesidee.de/dateien/grafiken/de/axel_lieber_hans_hemmert_thomas_schmidt_georg_zey_ von_links_nach_rechts_photo_stefan_pielow-m.jpg

http://ingesidee.de/page.php?pgid=132&lang=en

Some of their projects are quite cool, but this one is a dud.

Yet they still laughed all the way to the bank with their $475K or whatever it was that it cost. It must have been like selling the Emperor 'new' clothes.

[KTrain]

80% of the $470K stayed in Calgary because it was fabricated in Calgary by Heavy Industries.

So really, we paid $94000 for the Germans to draw a circle and then asked a Canadian company to make it big.

[calumniate]

Here's the guys responsible for this design disaster.

http://ingesidee.de/page.php?pgid=132&lang=en

Some of their projects are quite cool, but this one is a dud.

I can't wait for their artsy explanation to be included in the project listing on this one. Can't freaking wait! Something like:

"The circles' escape into freedom interrupts the flow of electricity, and yet - the circle itself appears electrified."

[Muta]

"The circles' escape into freedom interrupts the flow of electricity, and yet - the circle itself appears electrified."

"This aura of new energy came to us in a dream; the circular shape represents the constant euphoric state that develops inside our team when we visit art galleries, wear very tight black clothing and attend other people's galas and consume their liquor."

[Minnie]

It is through an act of focused attention that we transform myriad inputs into a moment of being, a fully realized view of a given point in time. The spare and fluid outlines of the background point to the finite nature of human conscious experience. We are aware of but unable to fully comprehend the entire context of history and experience.

[Regulator75]

They should have equipped some fancy LED's and put this on the ring road.
It is a ring? Is it not?

[CaptainCrunch]

It is through an act of focused attention that we transform myriad inputs into a moment of being, a fully realized view of a given point in time. The spare and fluid outlines of the background point to the finite nature of human conscious experience. We are aware of but unable to fully comprehend the entire context of history and experience.

There I was plowing a low priced German prostitute and the idea just popped into my head.

[First Lady]

Christmas lights! That's what it needs.

[Minnie]

There I was plowing a low priced German prostitute and the idea just popped into my head.

Christmas lights! That's what it needs.

http://i42.tinypic.com/2mh974w.gif

The big blue circle, or the prostitute?

[Regular_John]

I agree - the majority of stuff that's been commissioned through this program is quite good.

I particularly like how the new art they installed at the gateway stations on 7th Ave look - they really fit in with the aesthetic of the whole transit mall corridor (which has turned out very nicely in my opinion). The space beside the new BVC and City Hall used to be horrific - now it's quite a nice, interesting urban space.

I don't have an actual photo yet, but this is the rendering for it:

http://www.calgary.ca/CSPS/Recreation/PublishingImages/ArtsAndCulture/PublicArt/cliff.jpg

This object will also be part of the new Barb Scott Park in Beltline, which has some potential

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQK1nahbwZeWhAer04fL9sY1IGOiwSre Sec2QD3wUtUpXo2MTeyhQ

Also, these two locations are clearly ones where the art can be fully appreciated and has a lot of value.

Can you speak the procurement/selection process for pieces? I sort of gather that there's a panel of folks from the art/design community involved and I see that one can register as an artist for considerations. But I'm little fuzzy on how the process actually works.

Does the city/panel put out RFP's to registered artist/firms basically saying "We've got project [X] with an arts budget of [Y]"?

Or is it more of a specifically tailored "We'd like to place a [water feature/sculpture/decorative facade] on this project, what can we purchase"?

As posted before, I'm a fan of the public arts project in it's current form, but obviously many of us are scratching our heads over the new blue ring.

[GGG]

One thing I don't like about the 1% is that it seems like an afterthought. In needs to get integrated into the design early on and fit with whats around it.

I for one love the trout at the glenmore overpass and the mountains in other overpasses. The best part of the trout is that when the overpass floods once a year the trout is jumping out of actual water.

[4X4]

Holy crap would I be pissed if I lived in one of those houses.

La-tex con-do? I'd love to live in one of those.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Edit: And I missed Ktrain's post. Nevermind.

[worth]

Great article by the manufacturer, Heavy Industries:

Travelling Light - it isn’t easy being blue…
the skinny by heavy industries

I had a look back at inges idee’s proposal to the City to provide some insight into the concept and put together a synopsis.

inges idee examined the site conditions, noting the location for the artwork was where four bridge structures crossed physical features like Nose Creek, the regional pathway, and the railway line. They called the site

“a conglomerate of intersecting traffic flows moving at different speeds.”

The lights mounted on top “trigger associations with a bird or a bicycle rider”. The arches of the lamps call to mind handlebars of a high wheeler, or the silhouette of a bird, or a butterfly’s antennae – as such, they allude to slower speeds of travel and to the nearby airport simultaneously. The arches are positioned at a 90 degree angle to the ring, symbolizing the intersection of different paths.

So many people have commented on the simplicity of the artwork, asking how something that looks so simple cost this much money. In this video, Axel Lieber of inges idee discusses the concept behind the project (before anybody ever saw it) and notes:

“If it looks very simple at the very end, we did a good job, but nobody will know how complicated it was. [...] If it looks really easy and that it’s not a big deal, then it’s a success to us.”

76119311

http://heavyindustries.ca/travelling-light-it-isnt-easy-being-blue/

I'm not surprised this cost nearly half a mill. It's 20" OD steel pipe. That would not be cheap.

Edit: Just did a little math. I actually buy 20" Schedule 80 pipe for my work. No idea what wall thickness they would use but my last purchase cost for 1ft of 20" sch 80 pipe was $545 per foot. In the article it says it has a 56 ft diameter x Pi = 176ft of pipe needed = $95,920 in pipe alone.

[Jimmy Stang]

One thing I don't like about the 1% is that it seems like an afterthought. In needs to get integrated into the design early on and fit with whats around it.

This sums it up for me. I like public art, and I like that our city is more interesting because of it. There are a plenty of good examples of where this policy has had some really good results. But this one just seems to be an unimaginative afterthought.

[SeeBass]

I am just grateful that it is not a lasso or a cowboy hat

[Hevishot]

The first time I drove past it I assumed that it was some sort of olympic rings art in the making and they were going to be adding the rest of the rings in the next few days/weeks and that was the first one they decided to put up. Guess I was really wrong. Somebody should lose their job for approving such a waste of money for something sanford and son could of built and painted with tremclad.

[Muta]

Maybe Bunk knows this - from what I know, the 1% art fee is always part of the original budget set out in the RFP. This isn't a hidden cost; correct?

[Resolute 14]

I have nothing against Heavy Industries here. As a fabrication project, it is well done. But guys, give it up. The ring doesn't conjure images of anything but wasted money. It is an eye sore that completely dominates the area in a bad way.

[para transit fellow]

Edit: Just did a little math. I actually buy 20" Schedule 80 pipe for my work. No idea what wall thickness they would use but my last purchase cost for 1ft of 20" sch 80 pipe was $545 per foot. In the article it says it has a 56 ft diameter x Pi = 176ft of pipe needed = $95,920 in pipe alone.


Can you give any suggestion about how much it might cost to curve the pipes and weld it

( I'm always curious about how much stuff costs)


I still think that from a distance, it looks like a giant hotwheels(tm) loop the loop track.....

[Regulator75]

First rule in government spending: Why build one when you can have two at twice the price? Only, this one can be kept secret...

I wonder where the secret one is? :bag:

http://project-blu.com/images/reviews/636a7b3c-9a4e-fa19c0gx4zmdh4jpg.jpg

[calumniate]

I hope this becomes a huge scar on the resume of Inges Idee. Practically no good art is ever functional, and when you look at the portfolio of Inges Idee none of their other pieces are.

The notion that it 'triggers associations with a bird or bicycle rider' is ridiculous. No connotation with that kind of idea is possible because of its function.

I think it's funny that I'm criticizing something like this because I'm a fan of abstract and minimalist art. Had the work ended up an abstract bird on a giant bicycle, the results could have been pretty stellar. But at the end of the day this 'piece' of $%@# is just a lamp post in the form of a circle.

[_Q_]

Drove by this last night.... it's very weird.

[worth]

Can you give any suggestion about how much it might cost to curve the pipes and weld it

( I'm always curious about how much stuff costs)


I still think that from a distance, it looks like a giant hotwheels(tm) loop the loop track.....

To be honest I have no idea. I don't even know of a vendor who could bend 20" pipe like that. I typically buy 20" pipe in a 20ft length and then they are cut down to 4ft sections. I don't use more than 4ft at a time and the pipe is not bent.

If these guys bought 20ft lengths, they would need 9 lengths to complete the circle which would be a couple hundred hours of welding I would estimate.

I can't see the images at work so I can't tell if they were cutting the pipe and rewelding or if they were actually rolling long lengths of pipe. If they had to cut and weld the pipe all the way along, the hours would be sky high to do so.

[Temporary_User]

I almost wonder if this was setup by some ultra fiscal conservative in an effort to make people question the 1% art cost and government spending in general.
Some sort of "force me to spend $500,000 of taxpayers money on art, I'll show you how to waste it"

[You Need a Thneed]

Some of you are going really overboard in your hate for the thing. Sure, it could have been better, but I can easily see how putting this up costs $470,000. Like posted above, there is nearly $100,000 in raw pipe alone, never mind fabricating the thing, building a foundation for it, etc. The total amount spent is really arguable either, as it has to be the 1%. Sure, you can argue with the policy, but that's not related to this specific work.

The only criticism then is to argue about the quality of the artwork. Again, I don't particularly like the streetlights on top - "antennae"? Then why are they shaped exactly like the rest of the streetlights along the road? I don't have problems with a large ring, I don't think it's an eyesore, certainly.

It I designed it, I would have put it in the median between the lanes, taken off the streetlights, and maybe painted it red instead of blue. I would have installed lighting a little differently too.

Art is always going to subjective, and no one should feel bad for disliking a work. However, there's nothing offensive about this piece. So just sit back and be glad that we are free to talk about whether we like a 17 metre blue ring or not.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

To be honest I have no idea. I don't even know of a vendor who could bend 20" pipe like that. I typically buy 20" pipe in a 20ft length and then they are cut down to 4ft sections. I don't use more than 4ft at a time and the pipe is not bent.

If these guys bought 20ft lengths, they would need 9 lengths to complete the circle which would be a couple hundred hours of welding I would estimate.

I can't see the images at work so I can't tell if they were cutting the pipe and rewelding or if they were actually rolling long lengths of pipe. If they had to cut and weld the pipe all the way along, the hours would be sky high to do so.

There are lots of shops in Calgary that can bend pipe that big. I know of at least one or two that will bend up to 36".
I'm sure they just got the longest continual bends the could and welded that together. It's not a complicate process, but it can be pretty pricey.

[surferguy]

http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-home-renovation-materials-other-needed-cardboard-tubes-W0QQAdIdZ533656524

Ha Ha - found this on Kijiji this morning!

[Joborule]

Should've done this instead.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BXJ0CgkCcAANu-f.jpg:large
https://twitter.com/TMrjmki/status/392503703975915523

[MRCboicgy]

A big blue c**k ring?

[cavalera403]

A big blue c**k ring?

That's what the gf thinks it is

[Mccree]

I like it. Not sure why but I like it.

[Brannigans Law]

I was driving home from work and had a horrible realization. I've noticed this thing before but I swear to god I thought it was a giant roll of blue hosing for some construction site off in the distance. God :(

[Minnie]

A big blue c**k ring?

When does Godzilla show up?

[Rathji]

A big blue c**k ring?

Yep.

Bend over.

[Bigtime]

A big blue c**k ring?

NSFW:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb-Kh1oJSGE

[surferguy]

Think you can do better?

http://www.calgary.ca/_layouts/cocis/DirectDownload.aspx?target=http%3a%2f%2fwww.calgar y.ca%2fCSPS%2fRecreation%2fDocuments%2fPublic-art%2fseton_call_bulletin.pdf&noredirect=1&sf=1