One block of Fourth Street between Main and Market Streets is looking a little different. One piece of street furniture is missing and a new piece was added a little down the street. Both are quite a mystery to me, but I’m guessing some of you Broken Sidewalkers know the inside story.
First, a curvy wooden art-bike-rack installed in April is nowhere to be seen. It’s even hard to see the holes in the sidewalk where it was attached to the ground. The photo above at Main Street shows where it used to be. Where did it go?
Next, near the corner of Market and Fourth, a new metal placard revealing the scientific secrets of Pangaea and the geologic history of the earth has been mounted on a strangely historic looking pole. The new sign looks great and I think should be a regular presence across Downtown, but where did it come from? It’s really well done, but who did it?
Any and all information on the street furniture changes in the comments if you will.
- New Art-Bike-Racks Added To Downtown (Broken Sidewalk)
I can’t believe I missed that it was gone. I walked past it twice today. I’ll have to take a look tomorrow.
I did notice the new metal one that popped up recently, it’s different.
That’s what I like about the new sign: it a little different. When I first saw it, my first impression was of a temporary exhibit for an event, but its permanence and subject matter make it quirky. An interesting way to incorporate something educational into the public realm.
The "wavy" bike rack at 4th & Main was removed to have the legs re-worked. They were rusting onto the brick pavers.
The new bike rack in front of US Bank on 4th was done by Matt Weir. He also did the bench at 1st & Main. His quote about the new bike rack: “One side of the marker is a 24 hour metaphorical clock of planet earth. On the other side are twelve paleogeographic maps of the continental breakup of the last supercontinent, Pangaea. Ultimately, the work is meant to be both interactive and educational, if not philosophical in nature,plus you could use it as a bike rack.”
Mystery solved. Thanks for the info on the bike racks Joanne. Matt Weir's bike-rack-sign's subject matter makes much more sense considering it's part of the art-bike-rack program. I'm glad to hear the "wavy" bike rack will be back soon after repairs.
The bike rack in question at 4th and Main was removed because the wood waves were not weathering well and it is being reworked. It will not likely return to that location but will be back downtown at a new site. We actually have 8 new bike racks in place:
Matt Weir – NW corner of 4th and Market
Samantha Griffith – North side of Main between 3rd and 4th
Jen Pellerin – NE corner of Brook and Main at the Carlisle
Bryan Holden – SW corner of Main and Preston at the Fleur de Lis
Brad White – SW corner of 6th and Jefferson at the Hall of Justice
Ezra Kellerman – NW corner of 5th and Broadway to the west of City Cafe
Scott Scarboro – NW corner of 4th and Broadway
Wyatt Gragg – North side of Broadway between 3rd and 4th
The LDMD bike rack sculpture project now has 32 pieces.
Thanks for the update, Ken. The bike-rack-sculpture project is great for Downtown.
Hello,
I just thought I might drop in a few words on my newly discovered “Bike rack.” Yes the basic form for the work was the hijacking of the state historical roadside markers. The frame around the two plaques is the same, as is the circular top, however, I thought I would show them up a bit and give the piece an antique character with the open scroll work. The overall goal for the work was obviously not simply a bike rack, but a serious and educational “you are here” kind of marker done within a global and pre-historic context. So yeah, one side is of a modified 24 Hour Metaphoric Clock of Planet Earth which begins at hour 00:00:00 and ends right now, right now, right now…. My tweaking of the clock was the inclusion of the last 5 plus the current and ongoing major extinctions of the world. Each one is numbered and in context of the clock. There is much much more information on this side, but just go see it. Look for the color coded legends too.
The other side is of 12 Paleogeographic maps used with permission by Dr. Ronald Blakey of Northern Arizona University. They begin at the time of the last supercontinent Pangaea 240 Ma ( Million years ago) and end with 20 Ma when the state of the continents looks comparable to today. Continents move at roughly the same rate as the growth of your fingernail. And there are projections for the next supercontinent “Pangaea Ultima” somewhere in the next 250 Million yrs. Pangaea (240 Ma) was one of many supercontinents in the earth’s geologic past each approximately distanced by about 240-260 Million yrs. Here is a link to Ron’s Paleogeography website, be sure to take a look around – inspiring stuff.
http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~rcb7/index.html
Next time your down there be sure to look back and forth on both side to see approximately what the earth looked like when for instance the dinosaurs roamed 230- 65 Ma. Pangaea through its initial breakup. The biologic idea and image there speaks to “speciation” or the separation of once genetically matable species removed from each other onto different land masses or islands and evolving into genetically different species ( no longer able to mate). That is essentially what Darwin was speaking about concerning the finch bird species he compared in the Galopagos Islands.
The work was made through Photolithography ( light sensitive resin process) sculpted and molded forms and found objects all cast in aluminum and painted. Most everything there, idea and form, is essentially based on found elements. Months of research and even more editing.
Lastly, please check out my website. http://www.mweir.com Thanks for your time and interest.
Sincerely, matt
Thanks, Matt, for the additional information on your bike rack sculpture. Like I said before, this theme of info-art would be interesting to see continued throughout Louisville.