Here is my
proposal for artwork in the Uptown Area.
On the south side of the Louisiana overpass, let’s erect a larger than life Coronado en
la Entrada crossing the Rio Grande (represented by the concrete ditch down the middle of I-40). Enjoy the irony that Coronado will never
reach his mall.
Before you get out your hacksaws, wait! Look to the North. Here we will place some representation of the Pueblo
peoples (no, not a slot machine). I leave it to the many fine Native American artists in New Mexico to decide what is fitting. I do
recommend the Marriott acquire a Chacoan facade, like the Homeland Court downtown (Bless the Homeland!).
This memorial will
perpetually represent the gulf between the First Immigrants, for even the Indians came from somewhere else — though I have no cognitive
dissonance from the notion that they came from someplace else AND have always been here (I feel that way myself).
What about the
Anglos (not to mention Blacks, Asians, everyone else — which is par for the course)? We already have our memorial in the two malls,
where we seek new bargains and homogeneity. I can’t wait until they build more stores between the two malls, finally putting to use that
idle open space! [Updated 2006: they’re here!]
Most fitting to
our age would be large digital screens which would perpetually flash advertisements and security alerts. We’ll take as our inspiration
the rape of the National Mall in DC by NFL and Pepsi, featuring Brittany Spears, stripped of all decency (huh?). Maybe these screens
could occasionally show photos of the Sandias, which soon will not be visible from Uptown. mjh
The
Background
ABQjournal: Locals Split on Uptown Art Plan By Lloyd Jojola, AbqJournal.com
City residents had a chance to weigh in on
the proposed design concept for two sculptures to be installed as part of the planned Louisiana Boulevard and Interstate 40 interchange
reconstruction project.
The contemporary, cone-shaped public art pieces are influenced by desert geographical forms. The 36-feet-
tall-by-64-feet-wide cone shapes would, among other things, allow rain to be captured and used to water the landscape.
Proposed Uptown Art Criticized By Lloyd Jojola, AbqJournal.com
Everyone’s an art critic. The design for two Uptown sculptures
costing about $300,000 and resembling “giant coffee filters” or “urns” has already received some colorful criticism, and it has yet to be
the focal point of a public meeting.
ABQjournal: Letters to the Editor
Louisiana
‘Cones’ Don’t Fit In
The reason the proposed volcanoes stand out is because they are modernist kitsch— statements about
the ideal, circa 1945. I don’t care if the project makes an arcane reference to the idea of “Uptown,” so long as it incorporates an
appropriate degree of complexity. At present moment, it strikes me as a “one liner” that has a $300,000 price tag.
JOSHUA ARNOLD
Tijeras
Arthur Alpert’s take on this:
Alpert’s Truth: I Become a Know-Nothing