Public Art Proposal Display
Treasure Island: Building One Plaza Public Art Project
The San Francisco Arts Commission is working on behalf of Treasure Island Development Authority to commission a signature public artwork for Building One Plaza, which is located at Avenue of the Palms and California Avenue. The newly commissioned artwork is intended to acknowledge the importance of the landmark Building One, while marking the transitional nature of the site through the use of contemporary materials and styles. The scale of the artwork will correspond to the scale of the building and maintain a line of sight from Building One to the Bay, while also maintaining the original historic character-defining features of the building and landscape. Three artists were chosen as finalists by a Public Art Selection Panel to create site-specific proposals for the Building One Plaza opportunity: Ai Wei Wei, Chakaia Booker, and Pae White.
Ai Weiwei’s Rebar for Treasure Island is comprised of four large-scale steel sculptures that welcome visitors to Building One Plaza with artfully curving shapes that playfully animate the site. Breaking up the static, rectilinear nature of the plaza’s architecture, these more organic forms suggest drawings that seem to hover gently above the landscape. One additional rebar sculpture will grace the Historic South Garden, creating a bridge between the two adjacent locations that encourages a more holistic appreciation of the plaza. Given their scale and strength, the works will act as meeting points—doubling as seating areas from which to enjoy the Plaza and its views. As a whole, Rebar for Treasure Island will create a dynamic visitor experience, forming a constellation of related spaces that promotes both contemplation and sociability.
The Historical Gardens is in one of the quadrants at Building One on Treasure Island located on the corner of Avenue of the Palms and Clipper Cove Avenue. At this site we propose to permanently install a freestanding sculpture. The sculpture echoes the geometry of Building One, the cross currents of the San Francisco Bay water, and the abstract movements of the natural surroundings. The city scape and the Island landscapes. The interactive monumental sculpture allows the visitors to walk through the center of the artwork from either end. Always having the ability to enter or exit from either side of the five separate individual columns. Joined circles incised into the ground is an infinity design symbolizing the rebounding and many lives of the island.
Looking at the history of Treasure Island, especially the 1939 World’s Fair, I recognized an opportunity to remake a lost artwork. Behind the massive sculpture of the mythological figure Pacifica in the Court of the Seven Seas, there was something referred to to in the promotional video as a 100’ Silver Chime Curtain which “tinkled the tranquil song of peace…” I would like to propose a variation of that, give it depth, orient it horizontally in a serpentine layout, and in addition to creating sound, it would have numerous of spinning elements of different sizes harnessing the wind coming off the bay. An assortment of pattern and openwork would allow for a good amount of transparency to take advantage of the view of the ocean, the city and the landscape while at the same time creating pockets of intimate spaces.
Opportunity For Public Comment
Public Comment Period Closed on April 13, 2018, 5 p.m.