 |
 |
| |
||
|
||
|
||
Art on the pedestrian access ramps and on the pedestrian bridge over the Crosscut Canal at Osborn Road and 64th Street Description Glass fresco and brushed aluminum featuring artworks for pedestrians on the access ramps and the pedestrian bridge over the elevated Crosscut Canal. The completed project was approved by the Public Art and Collections Committee in December 2001. Narrative Artist Erik Gonzales
conceived of Visual Puzzles as a series of artworks that recognize
the significance of the Crosscut Canal to Scottsdale and illuminate an
artist's perspective on the canal's history. The antiqued images within
the art panels are comprised of several layers of Crosscut Canal In the early 1900s the Salt River
Valley Water Users Association (now the Salt River Project) constructed
the Crosscut Canal—with the express purpose of powering the Crosscut
Hydro Plant at Washington Street. For several years the hydro plant supplied
40 percent of the electricity for SRP. Yaqui Indians were instrumental
in building and maintaining the canal, and The Crosscut Canal is part of the Papago Trail, which traverses eleven miles through Phoenix, Scottsdale and Tempe on the Crosscut, Arizona, and Grand Canals. It links many of the area's most valued historic, natural, cultural and recreational attractions. The trail systems consist of paved pathways, bike lanes and natural walkways, inviting cycling, jogging and hiking. Through public artworks such as Visual Puzzles, the Scottsdale Public Art Program recognizes the valley-wide effort to redefine the canal system not only as a critical water and power source but also as a community asset. A statement from the artist, Erik Gonzales With the help of
historians, documentary photographs, residents' personal accounts and
my own experiences at the canal site, I have developed a theme for a unique
kind of mural, one that has not yet been attempted anywhere else in Scottsdale.
I studied black-and-white aerial photographs taken in the 1950s and As the components of this puzzle, I have painted a series of original artworks and synthetically age them to look antiqued. The art was then reproduced in large scale onto a translucent safety glass material, permanently fusing the image to the hard surface and guaranteeing durability in the outdoor environment. Some of the paintings are lit from behind, giving the images a soft glow and revealing complex under-layers of design. Q&A What should I be looking for? Four large back-lit artworks
(about 4' x 8') situated in special frames showcase a unique composite
image, a historic photo paired with an abstract painting. The paintings
appear to grow out of the shapes and lines in the photos and blueprints.
Smaller art panels integrated in What does the imagery mean? Arizona artist, Erik Gonzales, met with historians, studied black and white aerial photographs from the 1950s and engineering drawings of the Crosscut Canal that date to the 1930s. He saw a patchwork of precise geometric rectangles, squares, and circles. Each shape in his paintings represents an important part of the neighborhoods around the canal, and together they appear as puzzle—pieces that show a slice of life—our built environment, as viewed from a new perspective. Back-lit art? How much light and why light the painting from behind? Gonzales takes great pride in being able to make complex paintings that change personalities, depending on the amount of light behind them. Some of the Visual Puzzles art panels are placed in custom designed light boxes so that they can achieve a soft glow. The delicate light from behind will reveal other subtle layers of colors, textures, and shapes that can't be seen otherwise. Remember, the panels on the bridge railing are not artificially back-lit, so they rely on the changing position of the sun to reveal secret under layers. When will the art be illuminated? The art panels at the bottom of the access ramps will be back-lit according to standard park hours. Who will take care of the new artworks? The project will be monitored by the Collections Department at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art. It will receive cleanings, bulbs will be replaced, and condition of art panels will be assessed on an as needed basis. What's the art painted on? Glass?
|
|||||||||
Copyright ©2004 Scottsdale Cultural Council - All rights
reserved.
User Agreement | Privacy Policy This site developed and hosted by Contact Designs  |
|||||||||
Print
This Page
Email
This Page
shapes,
textures and earthen-tone colors and are a combination of historic aerial
photographs of the location and original abstract forms. In the black-and-white
imagery of the artworks, large rectangular and round shapes are from aerial
views of the Crosscut Hydro Plant. The blueprints are reproductions that
were used by engineers and contractors during construction of the canal.
many
of them lived at a Yaqui settlement located at what is now 64th Street
and Osborn. Today the canal banks serve as a power transmission corridor,
while the hydro plant is used only for back-up power generation. This
gravity-fed canal supplies drinking water and power for the community.
engineering
drawings of the Crosscut Canal that date to the 1930s, and what I saw
was a patchwork of precise geometric rectangles, squares, and circles.
Each shape represents an important part of the neighborhoods around the
canal, and together they appear as puzzle pieces that show a slice of
life—our built environment as viewed from a new perspective. 
the
bridge railings feature delicate details from the paintings. A large multi-layered
brushed aluminum wall on the canal bank restates the gestural nature of
the glass fresco paintings.
