Ghost bikes going, giant musician bike coming

Bicycling

Ghost bikes going, giant musician bike coming

by David Alpert • September 19, 2009 10:48 am

There are two unrelated pieces of news involving bicycles and public art this morning. First, despite DDOT's signs that said the ghost bikes at Connecticut and R would be removed in 10 days, DC workers hauled them away yesterday. Was this another miscommunciation between DDOT and DPW? DDOT seemed to be making an effort to at least handle the issue in a less haphazard way, but then whoever did the hauling and whoever made the decision to order it fell back into the same pattern that triggered the controversy in the first place. It's disappointing.

Left: DC workers haul away the ghost bikes. Photo by Eric Gilliland.
Right: Proposal for the "Bicycle Musician" public art at 18th and Columbia.

Second, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has picked the "Bicycle Musician" (above right) as the piece of public art for the corner of 18th and Columbia in Adams Morgan. Many residents dislike the piece, and KCA President Denis James editorialized against it. It was my least favorite of the three, as well, and doesn't provide seating while the other two do. In our poll, it came in last.

While there's no way people can agree on art, this does seem like one area where decisionmakers should lean toward deferring to community wishes. The Adams Morgan listserv thread alludes to some kind of poll taken to choose a finalist, but the DCCAH Web site has no information about the results. Or perhaps people are confusing our poll with being something official, as at least one poster did. There's also no announcement of the decision or any other information on the DCCAH site, their Twitter feed, or their blog.

15 comments — Share	— tags: Adams Morgan, arts, DC, Dupont Circle, ghost bike, public art

Ghost bike returns with a posse (Sep 10, 2009)
R-E-S-P-E-C-T, that's what the ghost bike means to me (Aug 31, 2009)
Adams Morgan reviews public art proposals (May 5, 2009)
Adams Morgan intersection update (Jun 21, 2008)
Crossable intersections in Adams Morgan (Jun 2, 2008)

Comments

Other than your excellent blog, I don't think the art proposal was vetted, at least widely, on other blogs.

And I don't even recall much in the way of notice or prior discussion on the Adams Morgan list.

DC agencies, and the arts commission, apparently don't recognize the existence of alternative media, at least consistently. Press releases aren't widely distributed, and postings on neighborhood list are usually about traffic light repairs and not the really interesting stuff.

There's no excuse for this.

DC residents are more networked and more connected than at any other tine through mailing lists, blogs and other media, but DC government (with exceptions here and there) hasn't really recognized the need to use these tools and avenues to reach residents and engage them.

Already, the debate is Adams Morgan is as much about the notice as it is the art.

by kob on Sep 19, 2009 11:36 am

I'd rather have public art judged and selected by a public arts commission with some, limited public input than by the 6 or so people who dominate the Adams Morgan list. Neither group is very representative of Adams Morgan, but at least the commission theoretically has some experience in what makes for good public art. The usual blowhards on the Adams Morgan list don't.

by Matt on Sep 19, 2009 12:01 pm

This post at DCist suggests that the new bikes had been vandalized to the point of becoming a dangerous nuisance.
http://dcist.com/2009/09/ghost_bikes_now_a_mess.php

by Erik Moe on Sep 19, 2009 1:12 pm

The bike sculpture has to be about the ugliest thing I've seen lately.

by Boots on Sep 20, 2009 8:18 am

No discussion of the ghost bikes being a huge mess on the sidewalk.

But a post complaining about how they were removed without due deference to....whom exactly?

The memory of Ms. Swanson?

The vanity of the self-promoting anarchist/activist who put them up?

Come on. Let it go. DCist was all over the mess. This blog ignored it.

by Fritz on Sep 20, 2009 8:44 am

The public art WAS vetted...back in May there was an open house at the back of the old Christian Scientist church where residents could go and find out more about the finalists and provide input. I couldn't make it because of work, but it's not fair to say that residents didn't get a chance to give feedback.

Whatever you put there is going to be controversial but no matter what is put there, if it generates discussion and becomes a distinctive landmark in the area then I would judge that a success.

The winning 'cyclist' sculpture is so bizarre that it's hard to really believe they went for it...but the other finalists were not appropriate. The Adamour circle design was waaaay too bland for a neighborhood as distinctive as A-M, and the 'sunflowers' would have become a public safety risk when drunk frat boys started climbing/swinging from it on their way home from the Strip.

by renegade09 on Sep 20, 2009 1:32 pm

Yeah, it was "vetted," I suppose back in the summer or late spring. I went to look at the finalists. They were all bad, and i was so stunned at the mediocrity I didn't quite know what to say. Of course, none of the above was not an option, nor was a completely different "sculpture."

These things are awfully funny. I suspect a ton is done behind the scenes and then the "public input" is just a show.

by Jazzy on Sep 20, 2009 3:27 pm

Jazzy, a panel of local artists voted for the sculpture.

There were dozens of entries, narrowed down to the three that were made public. Those three received a small grant to create the models and images that were shown to the public. After the public input, the panel made the final vote. All the artists on the panel were volunteers, none were paid.

The artists on the panel had a number of complaints with the process, including a lack time, a lack tools to judge the entries (they were resumes, not ideas for the sculpture), and a lack of entries from local artists. But there was no pressure on them to make the decision they made and I think the process could be described more as a clusterfuck than some deal cut "behind the scenes" in an effort to avoid public input.

For what it's worth, I like the bike. It is concrete, so it is big and whimsical. There are all sorts of fun stuff in the basket. It certainly is unique.

On a separate note: Fritz, a woman died. Have some respect.

by Ted on Sep 20, 2009 9:50 pm

Jazzy, a panel of local artists voted for the sculpture.

On the subject of the public art: the bicycle sculpture was clearly the shittiest of the three--just incredibly fatuous, twee, and inappropriate for the space. It's about as ham-fistedly manipulative as the the backwards 'R' in the 'Toys R Us' logo. So of course it was picked.

The fact that a panel of "local artists" picked the sculpture is a scathing indictment of the DC arts scene. If we lived in a society with any respect for art, this panel would be rounded up, and their fingers broken so they could never practice art again, never mind acting as some sort of prize committee.

As to the "ghost bikes" sculpture, regardless of one's position on the installation, I am constantly surprised (pleasantly) by how responsive DPW has become over the last few years. You would assume by the speed with which the bikes were removed that there was some sort of priority give to removal. But no, DPW is just that good.

by ibc on Sep 21, 2009 10:40 am

DDOT may have granted the ghost bikes a 30-day allowance to remain on connecticut, but it seemed implied that the collection would remain in good condition and not be a hazard. That was no longer the case. The bikes had been moved and jumbled together and now were a nuisance. I have seen really very little support for this particular ghost bike effort. Even those who mourn the loss of Ms. Swanson agree that this installation was not about her but about Legba and that ghost bikes have a useful life and the previous installation had outlived that life. Give it up already GGW.

by ogden on Sep 21, 2009 11:54 am

Actually, DCCAH did in fact have a survey up on its Web site at the same time they held the open house for the community back in April regarding the finalists for the 18th & Columbia artwork project.

My guess as to why you can't find it now, would be because the survey is closed. I believe they got about 100 responses to the online survey (of which there was a notice on the Adams Morgan listserve).

by Bikes on Sep 21, 2009 2:52 pm

This incident reminds me of a similar memorial constructed by the mother of a girl who tragically lost her life when an embassy person (from Argentina?), a high ranking embassy official, crashed into her car at Connecticut and Q some 10 or 15 years ago. It was a ghastly scene as he'd being going very fast (80 mph?) down Connecticut (very late at night) and the victim's car ended up upside down. It became an international incident because intially diplomatic immunity was being claimed on his part. (He eventually went to jail ... but was released a couple years later to finish out his time in his home country.) Because of all the publicity, the District permitted the memorial to stay up for what may be have been as much as 2 to 3 years (from what I recall). But eventually they took it down ... and all the same furor we're hearing now was also expressed then.

by Lance on Sep 21, 2009 3:05 pm

okay, here's the link to a picture (and story) about that memorial and the accident/incident that gave rise to it. (Btw, the diplomat was from Georgia ... i.e., not Argentina ... )

www.embassy.org/gallery/joviane.html

by Lance on Sep 21, 2009 3:22 pm

Are they making this "temporary" like a lot of public art these days? I hope so. I've come to believe the public art should have a 5 year life when created. If there is a huge demand to keep it there after that, then fine.

NYC is stuck with that stupid 70s LOVE sign.

by beatbox on Sep 21, 2009 3:23 pm

The Adams Morgan biker statue is undoubtedly the ugliest public art proposal I have ever seen.

by TurdFerguson on Sep 22, 2009 4:33 pm