Twelve feet tall they are:
Click to expand
Here’s what you can seen across the street from the former Bank of America World Headquarters at 555 California betwixt Kearny and Montgomery in the Financh.
OMG, On My Guard:
Don’t click to expand
That’s right, it’s the art at the top of 580 California:
The postmodern, 107 m (351 ft), 23 story tower is … is topped with twelve statues described as “The Corporate Goddesses” by Muriel Castanis on the twenty-third floor.”
The LA Times calls these twelve statures “faceless rooftop wraiths.”
Yep.
Avert your gaze.
But these workers inside 580 have no choice:
Pray for them.
It goes back and forth, but lately, RPD has been in the game.
(Perhaps local real estate interests have the ear of the powers that be these days.)
Here’s what 2011, 2010, 2010, and 2010 looked like.
And this here is the sitch a third of the way through 2012:
Click to expand
Looks fine to me.
That’s the update.
Leaving you will a gallery of older graffiti:
The Asian Art Museum Blog has the news about the big new piece that’s just been installed in Civic Center. It’s all a part of Phantoms of Asia: Contemporary Awakens the Past, which starts May 18th, 2012 at the Asian Art Museum.
Here’s the video of them installing it yesterday afternoon:
And here’s what it looked like yesterday evening:
Click to expand
The HuffPo has the story:
“Timed to coincide with the Asian Art Museum‘s Phantoms of Asia exhibition, Civic Center Plaza will soon play host to Korean artist Choi Jeon Hwa’s Breathing Flower sculpture–a 24-foot tall, bright red recreation of a lotus flower with motorized petals set up to open and close throughout the course of the day.
A curatorial statement from the Asian Art Museum details some of the meaning behind the work:
“Looking closely at this large lotus by artist Choi Jeong Hwa one notices that it appears to be full of life, its petals slowly inhaling and exhaling. This is typical of the work of Choi, who takes pleasure in giving new life and meaning to otherwise inanimate and disregarded materials. Long a familiar flower in Asia and associated with both Hindu and Buddhist mythology, the lotus is remarkable for its ability to emerge from murky waters and mud, and blossom into an elegant flower. Choi created his lotus from everyday materials that, unlike a real lotus, will never disintegrate and die, and ultimately urge the viewer to meditate on the beauty and fragility of the natural world around us.”
Parking lot, Fishermans Wharf, Beach and Taylor:
Click to expand
Is this the statue that Angela Alioto wants to move to North Beach to be a part of a City-sanctioned Catholic shrine on Vallejo?
I think so.
Catholicism, catch it!
As seen from Post Street.
Don’t miss the giant Buddha* – he’s in the mix as well:
Click to expand
Merry Christmas!
* Now, you think, and I’m srsly you guys, you think maybe at some point Gumps could make a replica of the Buddha and then send the original back to Northern China whence it came? Just asking, Gump-bro. I know you have custody of it currently, from Agents of Fortune, though Accident of History, but is that the way it will always be?
“A Qing Dynasty gilded wood Buddha, carved for a summer palace in Northern China, is located in the store. It was carved in the Northern Manchurian Province of Jehol, the summer capital of the Ch’ing Emperors in the early 19th Century. The piece, the largest of its kind outside a museum, is the only item in the store that is not for sale.”
China, China, calling out to history
Is that the way it will always be?
Nine years and something months later, the SFPD makes an arrest:
“SFPD ARREST SUSPECT IN 10 YEAR OLD BRUTAL COLD CASE SEXUAL ASSAULT
11-103 Posted Date: 9/27/2011
The San Francisco Police Department’s Sex Crimes Detail Cold Case Unit made an arrest in a 10 year old sexual assault case. The incident occurred on November 6, 2001 in San Francisco, CA and the suspect was arrested on September 26, 2011 in San Jose, CA. The victim in this incident was offered a ride from the Mission District to her home. The three suspects then drove with the victim to Golden Gate Park and parked their car in an isolated dark area of the park were they sexually assaulted and robbed her. The victim was then ordered out of the suspect vehicle and had to flag down a passing motorist for assistance.
Due to the diligent work of the Sex Crimes Unit and Violence Reduction Team, in addition to the advent in today’s technology, the San Francisco Police Department was able to identify the suspect as Vinh Q. Chung, Vietnamese, Male, 10/26/1981. Chung was taken into custody at his home by members of the San Francisco Police Department’s Violent Reduction Team. He is currently being held at the County Jail in lieu of 5 million dollars bail.”
How about that?