“When one burns one's bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.”
January 21, 2016 3:39 PM Subscribe
No trolls allowed: Seattle advertises a writing residency … in a bridge. by Marta Bausells [The Guardian] The US city’s transport department offers $10,000 for a ‘unique’ residency in a bridge tower – in return for ‘an in-depth exploration’ of the space.
The residency will occupy the northwestern tower of the bridge, a room measuring 13ft by 8ft, with a 10ft ceiling and a stairway coming up through the space. It’s furnished with a desk, chair, overhead lights, windows and an air-conditioning unit. Given that the space has no toilet, kitchen or running water, it’s a mercy that the residency is not a live-in appointment. The chosen writer will be able to use the facility as a “studio, a platform for observing the bridge and its surroundings, or as a base from which to interact with the community”.
A second residency for a “lighting artist” has also been announced, with an opportunity to stay in three of Seattle’s bridges – University, Fremont and Ballard – all of which are currently unlit.
“The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) seeks a practicing, published poet, fiction, or creative non-fiction writer for a unique project-based artist residency in the northwest tower of the Fremont Bridge. The selected writer will undertake an in-depth exploration of the bridge and write a piece in response to the experience.”
The residency will occupy the northwestern tower of the bridge, a room measuring 13ft by 8ft, with a 10ft ceiling and a stairway coming up through the space. It’s furnished with a desk, chair, overhead lights, windows and an air-conditioning unit. Given that the space has no toilet, kitchen or running water, it’s a mercy that the residency is not a live-in appointment. The chosen writer will be able to use the facility as a “studio, a platform for observing the bridge and its surroundings, or as a base from which to interact with the community”.
A second residency for a “lighting artist” has also been announced, with an opportunity to stay in three of Seattle’s bridges – University, Fremont and Ballard – all of which are currently unlit.
“The Seattle Office of Arts & Culture (ARTS), in partnership with Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) seeks a lighting artist or lighting artist team for a unique project-based artist residency in the southwest tower on the University Bridge. The selected lighting artist(s) will undertake an in-depth exploration of Seattle's three historic bascule bridges: the University, Fremont, and Ballard bridges, and create a conceptual plan for lighting each bridge.”
Seriously? I must be a Philistine as this makes me thankful I occupy a city to the north of the city border and do not have to pay Seattle taxes to support this project.
posted by bearwife at 3:58 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by bearwife at 3:58 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
"Day 86. Had to make toilet out the window again. The stairs continue to go in both directions: up and down, like 85 moons. Like my moods. Total voltage to my prison is haphazard - the single light flutters like a sad heart whenever the air conditioning unit cycles over, its deadly sensors having detected surfeit warmth in the room. All warmth has been sapped from me, so I am not certain where it could be coming from.
"I measured my incarceratoria again this morning. More like 12.8' by 7.11'. Records from the first days have long dissolved, so I cannot confirm that it has always been this way. I expect that my soul, as it seeps slowly from my body while I slumber in my chair, is beginning to accumulate on the inner surfaces of this place. I certainly have lost weight, and when I catch my hideous reflection in these windows that do not open, I see a sunken, hollow-faced being. Perhaps in another two hundred or so days I will have vanished utterly, and this room will be smaller still.
"At night the gears of the drawbridge grind into my dreams like a phalanx of big bridge gears, grinding. And when it is quiet, I can hear the cracking of exoskeletons at Ponti Seafood Grill. Garlic butter creeps across the river to lay siege to my nostrils and my stomach churns inside-out, consuming itself. I have cut the last of the buttons from my coat, and suck on it to drive away these demons of hunger.
"It is only the sheer tangible energy of non-stop innovation radiating out from the Google offices that stops me from disappearing completely."
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:59 PM on January 21, 2016 [29 favorites]
"I measured my incarceratoria again this morning. More like 12.8' by 7.11'. Records from the first days have long dissolved, so I cannot confirm that it has always been this way. I expect that my soul, as it seeps slowly from my body while I slumber in my chair, is beginning to accumulate on the inner surfaces of this place. I certainly have lost weight, and when I catch my hideous reflection in these windows that do not open, I see a sunken, hollow-faced being. Perhaps in another two hundred or so days I will have vanished utterly, and this room will be smaller still.
"At night the gears of the drawbridge grind into my dreams like a phalanx of big bridge gears, grinding. And when it is quiet, I can hear the cracking of exoskeletons at Ponti Seafood Grill. Garlic butter creeps across the river to lay siege to my nostrils and my stomach churns inside-out, consuming itself. I have cut the last of the buttons from my coat, and suck on it to drive away these demons of hunger.
"It is only the sheer tangible energy of non-stop innovation radiating out from the Google offices that stops me from disappearing completely."
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:59 PM on January 21, 2016 [29 favorites]
I'm glad that I live in a city (NYC) that is happy to spend taxes on things it deems important, like public art. Glad to see it being supported in Seattle!
posted by suedehead at 4:01 PM on January 21, 2016 [16 favorites]
posted by suedehead at 4:01 PM on January 21, 2016 [16 favorites]
Tempted, but I haven't really found a way to pitch writing Jusge Dredd comics to them in a way they're likely to go for.
Scene: Megacity Two, 2114
the Necromagus Sabbat stands atop the remnants of Fremont Bridge, now a mass of twisting sewer lines spilling into the fetid swamp that used to be known as Lake Union
posted by juv3nal at 4:02 PM on January 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
Scene: Megacity Two, 2114
the Necromagus Sabbat stands atop the remnants of Fremont Bridge, now a mass of twisting sewer lines spilling into the fetid swamp that used to be known as Lake Union
posted by juv3nal at 4:02 PM on January 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
I'm glad that I live in a city (NYC) that is happy to spend taxes on things it deems important, like public art.
I like public art too. Seattle has some wonderful public art. For example. I'm not sure how the public is going to benefit from this project.
posted by bearwife at 4:05 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
I like public art too. Seattle has some wonderful public art. For example. I'm not sure how the public is going to benefit from this project.
posted by bearwife at 4:05 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
I'll have you know, as someone who basically knew nothing about Dredd lore five minutes ago, I had to do research for that comment
posted by juv3nal at 4:05 PM on January 21, 2016 [7 favorites]
posted by juv3nal at 4:05 PM on January 21, 2016 [7 favorites]
As it's Seattle there's actually a Starbucks a block away from there, soon likely to become very familiar with the toilet routines of the artist.
posted by Artw at 4:07 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Artw at 4:07 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
As it's Seattle there's actually a Starbucks a block away from there, soon likely to become very familiar with the toilet routines of the artist.
Plot-twist: Starbucks opens a location on the bridge itself.
posted by Fizz at 4:08 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
Plot-twist: Starbucks opens a location on the bridge itself.
posted by Fizz at 4:08 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
No trolls. Plural, so they're allowed one while still sticking to that rule. Of course, that position is already taken.
posted by ckape at 4:10 PM on January 21, 2016
posted by ckape at 4:10 PM on January 21, 2016
No trolls. Plural, so they're allowed one while still sticking to that rule. Of course, that position is already taken.
Goddamn Alan Moore.
posted by Artw at 4:25 PM on January 21, 2016
Goddamn Alan Moore.
posted by Artw at 4:25 PM on January 21, 2016
"We have asked the writer to compose some thoughts on the nature of water flowing under a bridge. They say they will look into it."
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:32 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:32 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
It's things like these where I would appreciate an in-depth article on how the selection process is made, because I'm so curious about who would be chosen, why, and what their work is.
posted by yueliang at 4:34 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by yueliang at 4:34 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
And what precisely does "established professionally" mean?
posted by corb at 4:54 PM on January 21, 2016
posted by corb at 4:54 PM on January 21, 2016
Gets paid for it.
posted by notyou at 5:00 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by notyou at 5:00 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
The same office has done a similar grant for an artist to work from the Fremont Bridge (e.g. 2009).
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 5:01 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Radiophonic Oddity at 5:01 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
It reminds me of this April 1, 2011 article about a similar program.
posted by Area Man at 5:03 PM on January 21, 2016
posted by Area Man at 5:03 PM on January 21, 2016
So, this bridge...over troubled waters? Or maybe near 59th Street?
posted by nubs at 5:08 PM on January 21, 2016
posted by nubs at 5:08 PM on January 21, 2016
It's $10,000. I really don't think this is cutting too far into the City of Seattle's budget.
posted by 3urypteris at 5:14 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by 3urypteris at 5:14 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
Seattle art bureaucrats are so full of themselves you wonder whether even an office-wide epidemic of norovirus could get things moving again.
If you're an artist who's always dreamed of being suspended over six hours of traffic jams every day, this is your gig -- but don't forget your oxygen tank and CO filter.
posted by jamjam at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2016
If you're an artist who's always dreamed of being suspended over six hours of traffic jams every day, this is your gig -- but don't forget your oxygen tank and CO filter.
posted by jamjam at 5:31 PM on January 21, 2016
No trolls allowed
Goobergrapers immediately took to Twitter to decry this act of liberal censorship.
posted by Talez at 5:37 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
Goobergrapers immediately took to Twitter to decry this act of liberal censorship.
posted by Talez at 5:37 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
Seriously? I must be a Philistine as this makes me thankful I occupy a city to the north of the city border and do not have to pay Seattle taxes to support this project.
It's not something they assessed a special tax for, or anything - by 1973 City ordinance, 1% of city capital improvement project funds are set aside for art projects.
posted by gingerest at 5:47 PM on January 21, 2016 [9 favorites]
It's not something they assessed a special tax for, or anything - by 1973 City ordinance, 1% of city capital improvement project funds are set aside for art projects.
posted by gingerest at 5:47 PM on January 21, 2016 [9 favorites]
Here is a slide show about the Seattle Public Art Program.
posted by gingerest at 5:48 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by gingerest at 5:48 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
bearwife: I must be a Philistine as this makes me thankful I occupy a city to the north of the city border and do not have to pay Seattle taxes to support this project.
As a taxpaying Seattle resident, I'm thrilled that a tiny, minuscule sliver of the taxes I pay to the city go towards something interesting. $10k? Paid for from 1% of capital projects into a citywide arts fund? Sure, have at it. Shoreline is spending that much to survey its residents about new parks so I genuinely don't see the issue here.
posted by fireoyster at 6:11 PM on January 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
As a taxpaying Seattle resident, I'm thrilled that a tiny, minuscule sliver of the taxes I pay to the city go towards something interesting. $10k? Paid for from 1% of capital projects into a citywide arts fund? Sure, have at it. Shoreline is spending that much to survey its residents about new parks so I genuinely don't see the issue here.
posted by fireoyster at 6:11 PM on January 21, 2016 [6 favorites]
For those who might be curious, I did some digging. This isn't unique or unusual just to Seattle. Bellevue, Everett, Edmonds, Auburn, Redmond, Olympia, and Tacoma all have public arts programs funded from city resources, as do King and Kitsap Counties. Snohomish (County, not city) might have one; their ordinance page is down at the moment.
posted by fireoyster at 6:20 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by fireoyster at 6:20 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
I keep reading about attention-catching writers in residence programs (like the one on trains a few months back), but I'm not sure I have read much produced during one of these programs, or at least not that I knew of.
And what precisely does "established professionally" mean?
Aspiring hopefuls need not apply.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:47 PM on January 21, 2016
And what precisely does "established professionally" mean?
Aspiring hopefuls need not apply.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:47 PM on January 21, 2016
Here is a neat link that puts the Seattle 1% program into historical context.
posted by gingerest at 6:48 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gingerest at 6:48 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
so the idea that cities shouldn't document themselves in this way is predicated on the idea that art does nothing; it's a pleasant frivolity, like that vague statue outside the downtown Seattle library. If art is a pleasant frivolity, then it's perfectly all right if we leave it to the market. If on the other hand art is an experiment in how to see and speak, it is a serious problem if art is exclusively the province of the market. This is because the market is above all else interested in helping us see how important the market is and how much we need it and its products to survive — in convincing us that our identities are all derived in one way or another from the market. Essentially, if art is exclusively dependent on private money rather than public money (and this is, mind you, public money, not "taxpayer money." It's "taxpayer money" until you pay your taxes, after that, it belongs to all of us), the tools for seeing the world we'll have available will tend to be market tools.
This has resonances with the Bowie thread that went up today; if art is a frivolity, people are frivolous for mourning David Bowie. If, on the other hand, art is an experiment in how to see the world, hear the world, and speak about the world, people are smart to mourn Bowie. In this latter view, we lost someone who was very good at finding things we should be looking at and listening to in the world, at finding worthwhile ways to understand the world, to be in the world, and also very good at giving giving those things to us. This is a deep loss indeed.
By in a small way allowing for art that's dependent upon the public for funding, by in a very small way counterbalancing the art that's wholly dependent on the market, that 10k is very well spent indeed. Given that what we really need is a new WPA, the question at hand shouldn't be "is 10k too much?" or "is 1% for arts too much?" but instead "why aren't we spending more?"
tl;dr: yes, you are right to think of yourself as a philistine.
ps the statue is boring but the library itself is great.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2016 [16 favorites]
This has resonances with the Bowie thread that went up today; if art is a frivolity, people are frivolous for mourning David Bowie. If, on the other hand, art is an experiment in how to see the world, hear the world, and speak about the world, people are smart to mourn Bowie. In this latter view, we lost someone who was very good at finding things we should be looking at and listening to in the world, at finding worthwhile ways to understand the world, to be in the world, and also very good at giving giving those things to us. This is a deep loss indeed.
By in a small way allowing for art that's dependent upon the public for funding, by in a very small way counterbalancing the art that's wholly dependent on the market, that 10k is very well spent indeed. Given that what we really need is a new WPA, the question at hand shouldn't be "is 10k too much?" or "is 1% for arts too much?" but instead "why aren't we spending more?"
tl;dr: yes, you are right to think of yourself as a philistine.
ps the statue is boring but the library itself is great.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 6:50 PM on January 21, 2016 [16 favorites]
Has anyone else wanted to live in the tippy top little parts of pointed skyscrapers with their teeny tiny little windows? Like the Chrysler Building? I'm sure it's just a bunch of wires and stuff, but in my dreams it's all secret little garrets for wizards.
posted by leotrotsky at 7:15 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by leotrotsky at 7:15 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
It's possible to want spending on arts and also think this is not a good use of resources.
posted by corb at 7:17 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by corb at 7:17 PM on January 21, 2016 [3 favorites]
I would seriously kill to be able to do something like this. I think it would be amazing and unusual and genuinely inspirational.
posted by headspace at 7:20 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by headspace at 7:20 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's possible to want spending on arts and also think this is not a good use of resources.
yes, but it's a very hard case to make, especially given the existence of so much mediocre public sculpture.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:22 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
yes, but it's a very hard case to make, especially given the existence of so much mediocre public sculpture.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 7:22 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
.It's possible to want spending on arts and also think this is not a good use of resources.
Yes but its hilariously difficult to pin the "I just object to this one!" folks down on any specific other art projects they think would be a good use of resources, so it seems like a possible but not actually real scenario.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 7:26 PM on January 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
Yes but its hilariously difficult to pin the "I just object to this one!" folks down on any specific other art projects they think would be a good use of resources, so it seems like a possible but not actually real scenario.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 7:26 PM on January 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
Easy! Give 20 diverse unknowns each a week to make art in the space, at 500$ each, then hold a show and ultimately place all the art on display around the location. Done!
posted by corb at 7:31 PM on January 21, 2016
posted by corb at 7:31 PM on January 21, 2016
Has anyone else wanted to live in the tippy top little parts of pointed skyscrapers with their teeny tiny little windows? Like the Chrysler Building?
The top of Seattle's Smith Tower has an apartment.
posted by ShooBoo at 7:31 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
The top of Seattle's Smith Tower has an apartment.
posted by ShooBoo at 7:31 PM on January 21, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ctrl-F Tardis ...what? Nobody yet has mentioned that this is the Tardis bridge?
> So, this bridge...over troubled waters? Or maybe near 59th Street?
Just below 34th St, a Miracle of a location.
In any case, as a person who crosses this bridge twice or more times on a typical day, I sure would be glad if they'd abbreviate the tenure of the artist who occupies the southeast tower of the bridge, and his ongoing performance-art piece called "Any jerk with a boat has a license to completely fuck traffic for 8 minutes, no questions asked."
posted by Sunburnt at 7:58 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
> So, this bridge...over troubled waters? Or maybe near 59th Street?
Just below 34th St, a Miracle of a location.
In any case, as a person who crosses this bridge twice or more times on a typical day, I sure would be glad if they'd abbreviate the tenure of the artist who occupies the southeast tower of the bridge, and his ongoing performance-art piece called "Any jerk with a boat has a license to completely fuck traffic for 8 minutes, no questions asked."
posted by Sunburnt at 7:58 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]
Don't blame that guy, blame the federal laws that prioritize maritime over land traffic.
posted by gingerest at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by gingerest at 8:21 PM on January 21, 2016 [1 favorite]
okay when I go properly insane I'm going to construct a paranoid system of thought based around the idea that everything bad in the world can be traced, one way or another, to federal laws that prioritize maritime over land traffic.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:17 PM on January 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 11:17 PM on January 21, 2016 [4 favorites]
> Don't blame that guy, blame the federal laws that prioritize maritime over land traffic.
The general lack of shore cannons manned during rush hour to dissuade boaters is also the city's fault.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
The general lack of shore cannons manned during rush hour to dissuade boaters is also the city's fault.
posted by Sunburnt at 7:18 AM on January 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
In any case, as a person who crosses this bridge twice or more times on a typical day, I sure would be glad if they'd abbreviate the tenure of the artist who occupies the southeast tower of the bridge, and his ongoing performance-art piece called "Any jerk with a boat has a license to completely fuck traffic for 8 minutes, no questions asked."
I too walk across that damned bridge almost every day and I can only imagine what might be written about it:
- a legal discussion of jackass cyclists giving zero shits about pedestrians while passing at full speed in the narrow walkways, completely flaunting the regulatory signs that require cyclists to yield to pedestrians;
- a sociology report of waiting for the walkways to open once the bridge is down and how pedestrians must stand off to the side and allow the fucking peloton to form on the white line, lest any cyclists be late for the fourth stage of the Tour;
- a scientific/engineering analysis of how it's apparently easier and faster to conceive, gestate, and deliver a human infant than it is to repaint a bridge (sad that this one couldn't have been done in real time);
- an industrial espionage drama, obtained by peering through the windows of the nearby web search giant.
Hm, maybe I should apply! Either way, I'm sure I'll be able to give them something to write about.
posted by bonje at 10:04 AM on January 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
I too walk across that damned bridge almost every day and I can only imagine what might be written about it:
- a legal discussion of jackass cyclists giving zero shits about pedestrians while passing at full speed in the narrow walkways, completely flaunting the regulatory signs that require cyclists to yield to pedestrians;
- a sociology report of waiting for the walkways to open once the bridge is down and how pedestrians must stand off to the side and allow the fucking peloton to form on the white line, lest any cyclists be late for the fourth stage of the Tour;
- a scientific/engineering analysis of how it's apparently easier and faster to conceive, gestate, and deliver a human infant than it is to repaint a bridge (sad that this one couldn't have been done in real time);
- an industrial espionage drama, obtained by peering through the windows of the nearby web search giant.
Hm, maybe I should apply! Either way, I'm sure I'll be able to give them something to write about.
posted by bonje at 10:04 AM on January 22, 2016 [2 favorites]
It's possible to want spending on arts and also think this is not a good use of resources.
No. Either any attempt at art is defensible and good or you’re an art hating philistine.
I’m always amazed that there seems to be so little bad work done in the opinion of the Defenders of Art, even though in every other area "90% of everything is crap" is generally accepted. People are afraid to criticize art. I’m not going to publicly speculate as to their reasons.
posted by bongo_x at 7:45 PM on January 22, 2016
No. Either any attempt at art is defensible and good or you’re an art hating philistine.
I’m always amazed that there seems to be so little bad work done in the opinion of the Defenders of Art, even though in every other area "90% of everything is crap" is generally accepted. People are afraid to criticize art. I’m not going to publicly speculate as to their reasons.
posted by bongo_x at 7:45 PM on January 22, 2016
Criticizing art is not the same as saying it should not be funded or that it should be funded based on your taste.
posted by ignignokt at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by ignignokt at 8:07 PM on January 22, 2016 [1 favorite]
also, we wouldn't be having all the problems we've been having with public funding of the arts if it weren't for those damn federal laws prioritizing maritime traffic over land traffic. It's all right there in the gold fringe on the flag, everyone, the fringe that marks all courtrooms as admiralty courts. The damn naval coup d'etat happened so quickly and so smoothly that none of you sheeple even noticed.
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:54 AM on January 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
posted by You Can't Tip a Buick at 1:54 AM on January 23, 2016 [3 favorites]
When I rule from my art-tower atop the bridge all of this shall be overturned!
posted by Artw at 5:51 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 5:51 AM on January 23, 2016 [1 favorite]
90% of everything is crap. Whatever art comes out of this will probably be crap, but we can't be sure before it's actually funded and made. You make efforts to get good stuff for your funding, but even crappy art has cumulative effects and benefits to the general culture.
I'd be perfectly happy to see lots of art funded and then mercilessly demolished in the court of public and critical opinion, as long as that doesn't hurt the next round of art funding.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2016
I'd be perfectly happy to see lots of art funded and then mercilessly demolished in the court of public and critical opinion, as long as that doesn't hurt the next round of art funding.
posted by vibratory manner of working at 11:21 AM on January 23, 2016
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posted by Artw at 3:51 PM on January 21, 2016 [5 favorites]