|
Source
After 3 years, Phoenix net art has outlasted critics by Connie Cone Sexton - Apr. 17, 2012 10:40 PM The Republic | azcentral.com Three years ago this month, when a giant netting sculpture was hoisted into the air over Civic Space Park in downtown Phoenix, critics were ready with predictions: The first rush of wind would rip it from its moorings. Birds would die, their necks and wings snapped, trying to fly through the web. Well, the naysayers got it wrong. The netting still stands. Not even the heartiest of recent haboobs brought it down. "It has held up very well," said Ed Lebow, the public-art-program director for the Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, which oversaw the $2.4 million project at Polk Street and Central Avenue. "It was designed to survive hurricane winds." And bird killer? Nope. "We watched for quite a while to see if birds would get caught. I've never seen one, or heard of one, being caught," Lebow said. Yes, the netting has snagged a couple of soccer balls and a Frisbee or two, but the sway of the ropes eventually squeezed them out. There is one prediction naysayers made that has stuck: Few would ever call the 100-foot-tall, 100-foot-wide sculpture by its true name: "Her Secret is Patience." The piece, designed by Boston-area artist Janet Echelman to resemble a cactus, has been nicknamed Jellyfish, Tornado, even the Diaphragm. Echelman said she got the title from a quote by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote: "Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience." "I've heard it called 'That strange string thing in the park,' " said Steve Weiss, secretary of the Downtown Voices Coalition, a group of residents, organizations and business owners. The coalition was an adamant supporter of the sculpture and rallied for its approval in December 2007, when some Phoenix City Council members were hesitant to pay for the piece. It quickly became one of the most controversial public-art projects in Phoenix, mirroring the 1990s debate of the artwork placed along the then-named Squaw Peak Parkway. Weiss said Echelman's sculpture was a worthy investment by the city. "Can I say it's the iconic message of Phoenix? Um, it's on its way." He is happy some people have really taken to the piece. He tells the story of a group of tourists who, on St. Patrick's Day, were on their way from their hotel downtown to the Irish Cultural Center, less than a mile north of the park. Along the way, the group "stopped to lie in the grass underneath the sculpture," Weiss said. "To me, that's such a wonderful example of what we thought would happen." As much as he's heard people enjoy it during the day, Weiss believes many naysayers changed their minds when they first saw the sculpture at night. It's then that the piece comes alive, the purples, blues and reds of the braided twine illuminated by computerized colored light. On a recent Wednesday, Tempe resident Tanea Lucero, 28, was downtown and took a minute to admire the artwork. "I think it's more beautiful than ever," she said. The piece has captured national recognition, including the 2010 Year in Review Award from Public Art Network. But perhaps more important locally, it has become a destination place to meet. "I think more people like it than don't," said TJ Penkoff, recreation coordinator at Civic Space Park. "But at the end of the day, it's art and people are talking about it." |