Sculpture: Belltown Lights

I first saw these light posts returning from getting my afternoon fix of Skee-Ball at the Seattle Center. Walking to catch the bus and carrying two medium-sized, stuffed animals (bright green frogs). My prizes for $3 worth of Skee-Ball. (It's the only sport at which I truly excel).

It was a nice night and...then...I saw this across the street.... and hated it. It looks unfinished; like someone had some extra metal bars laying around a construction site and decided to bamboozle the city with some "public art". Constructionist Art. Perhaps they're not finished....

Then, I thought about what I was looking at a bit more.... and I kinda started to like it. It's actually perfect for Seattle, which has seen so much downtown construction over the past few years. It seems everywhere you go someone's building something. I also thought, these light posts kinda poke fun at this in a tounge-and-cheek sorta way. This is probably not what the artist had in mind; but, it's what I see and this is my blog (ha ha).

The artist is Kurt Kiefer and they are dated 1996. Apparently, these are supposed to "reference the process of removing Denny Hill (the "Regrade," which took place in the early 1900s)." I guess the artist did a pretty good job communicating his ideas, because if I "got it", then.... I also read that, the "light fixture brackets with neon clocks, refer to construction scaffolding and bracing used during the dismantling of Denny Hill." *Read on the Seattle.gov website.

Funny, I didn't connect them with the first round of major construction this city went through. But maybe these speak of the continual change a city under goes through construction.

Most of these don't have clocks attached to them. That's why I like this one the best. I like the balance. Plus, I think more light posts should have clocks... especially light posts near a bus stop. That would not only be decorative, but also functional. Here's a picture of another light post in a more appropriate environment.


I wonder what people will think of these lights in 5 years.

Location: 2nd Avenue in Seattle's Belltown Neighborhood