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New Public Art Installation in South Lake Union

South Lake Union sprouts a new urban forest

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This article originally appeared in the December 2014 issue of Seattle magazine.

This time of year can start to feel like you’re trapped in a crinkling vortex of wrapping paper with “Jingle Bell Rock” on repeat. But with his new, permanent work of public art, “There Is Another Sky,” New York artist Spencer Finch reminds us to slow down and look up.

The only artist commissioned to make a piece for the 9/11 Memorial Museum in NYC (a stunning array of 2,983 shades of blue titled “Trying to Remember the Color of the Sky on that September Morning”), Finch is a master of light and color, and of transporting viewers to another time and place. In this case, it’s a peaceful day in the forest. Commissioned by Vulcan Inc., “Another Sky” is a glass ceiling suspended four stories above a walkway between two Amazon buildings in South Lake Union, stretching the length of the block between Westlake and Ninth avenues. Pressed between the two layers of glass are translucent circles in different shades of green. The result is a walk in the woods, deconstructed—that feeling of moving through a green cast of filtered light, of looking up and admiring the dappled tree canopy.

The boulder-like benches beneath are warmed, so you can sit a spell—and you should.

 

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

SENSORIUM Takes on Our Screen Addiction

Dance, drag, and immersive art collide in an eight-week exploration of our phone-obsessed lives, with a few surprises along the way. 

What do drag queens, smartphone addiction, art installations, and an old luggage shop have in common?  According to longtime Seattle choreographer Alana O’Farrell Rogers, a lot.  “There’s no dead time anymore,” says Rogers, explaining how the proliferation of smartphones fills the empty spaces that once served as time for rest or connection. Where we snuggled…

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Salt-N-Pepa on Breaking Barriers and Staying Power

Ahead of their performance at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture gala, the hip-hop pioneers talk about creative ownership, connecting with new generations, and the songs that still resonate.

The Museum of Pop Culture (MOPOP) will host its annual ICONS of Pop Culture Gala in Seattle on October 22, honoring five artists and institutions whose work has helped shape entertainment and culture.  This year’s honorees are martial arts and film legend Bruce Lee, fashion designer Jeremy Scott, the video game franchise Halo, hip-hop pioneers…

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Studio Sessions: Christopher Paul Jordan

Drawing on childhood memories, neighborhood history, and salvaged materials, Christopher Paul Jordan’s latest show at Cornish’s Behnke Family Gallery explores how the past stays with us.

Start in the middle. It’s good advice for telling a story, and a way into Christopher Paul Jordan’s paintings. By the time you encounter them, their materials have already been something else, and who knows what they might move on to become. The Tacoma interdisciplinary artist works with salvaged objects, including screens, picture frames, canvas,…

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Rearview Mirror: Wedding Bells, A Furniture Launch, and the Symphony’s New Look 

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

WEDDING BELLS I’ve been a bit absent from this column lately, but I think I have a pretty good excuse: I got married! It’s already been three weeks since my September 19 wedding, but I’m still reflecting on the magic of the day. My fiancé, well husband now (I can’t get used to saying it!),…