Civic Center/Hayes Valley
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155 Fell Street
This is titled Big Octopus and is by Kenzo. Kenzo, (Aleix Gordo Hostau) is from Barcelona, you can see his other work around San Francisco here or his own flicker photo stream here.
Aug 132012
Jul 092012
435 Duboce
Duboce Triangle/ Lower Haight
Ian Ross and Zio Ziegler
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After these two worked together on a juxtaposed mural South of Market, it was an obvious step to combine forces. The result is truly fabulous. Obviously a temporary installation while construction is occurring behind this, but you have to love the person that decided this was a far better way to protect his construction site from trespassers than the standard metal gate.
The client is Doorman Property Management, they are the property managers for this mixed-use project of storefront and six residences. (scheduled to open in 2013)
Apparently there are also pieces of promotion in the mural as well. Close inspection by Haighteration discovered these:
“GARAGE FEATURES CHARGING STATIONS FOR ELECTRIC + HYBRID VEHICLES”
“ALL INTERIOR WALLS ARE CONSTRUCTED WITH QUIETROCK ACOUSTICAL SOUNDBOARD”
“DETAILED WITH FLOOR TO CEILING WESTERN WINDOW & DOOR SYSTEMS COVETED BY MANY AS A MANUFACTURING MARVEL”
“UNPARALLELED ACCESS TO TRANSIT AND PARKS”
“INTEGRATED SMART HOME AUTOMATION & CONTROL SYSTEMS”
Thank you Doorman Property Managers for giving art to Duboce Street in such a fabulous and unique way.
Apr 062012
Hayes Valley/Western Addition
Octavia Boulevard
between Market and Hayes
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Ghinlon/Transcope by Po Shu Wang 2005Commissioned by the SF Arts Commission for the Octavia Boulevard Streetscape Project, these transcopes invite you to observe the comings and goings along Octavia Boulevard and Patricia’s Green. There are twelve of these installed along the medians and the Green. The view through them can be twisted, converted or even upside down. While this was probably a wonderful concept, it fails in execution. To look into them is awkward. While one design is set at a height that works for the handicapped and small children, the other meant for standing adults were difficult for this 5’3″ author to use. Unfortunately, the view holes are so small that you really don’t see much anyway.
This is a paragraph from the SF Arts Commission’s Press Release regarding the installation:
The artist created a series of slender pole-like sculptures equipped with kaleidoscopic lenses that function as miniature observatories providing pedestrians with a transformed view of the surrounding environment and passing cars. The mounted scopes transform vehicular movements, colors, shapes and lights into extraordinary and beautiful real time moving pictures. Each observatory is equipped with a unique mirror lens combination giving the viewer an ever-changing kinetic snapshot of their environment. The sculptures have two standard designs: one for standing adults, and one for person in wheelchairs and/or children. The sculptures have a 60-degree vertical swing and a 180-degree horizontal swing. The slender support column on each sculpture includes the artist’s prosaic interpretation of the unique lens/mirror combination.
Born in Hong Kong, Po Shu Wang is an artist working out of Berkeley, California. His art projects are site-oriented viruses. Each individual artwork is a specific strain that intimately linked with a particular host environment. They co-evolve, mutate, and conflict with their hosts within a larger reality.
These pieces were part of the SFAC 2006-2007 budget and were commissioned for $150,000.
Apr 022012
Hayes Valley/Western Addition
Octavia and Page
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This is Growing Home’s Community Garden, their mission is to provide a community garden where both homeless and housed San Franciscans work side-by-side to grow nutritious food, access green space, and build community.
The mural on the back wall is by Ben Eine, he has several murals around San Francisco.
In an interview with Proxy SF, Eine said this about the piece, “My problem with this wall was the width between the windows. The first letter I sketched up on this was the ‘E’ and then that gave me the size of each letter going left or right of the ‘E.'” The interview is quite extensive, go to the link above if you are interested in reading it in its entirety.
Aug 152011
Hayes Valley – San Francisco
580 Hayes Street
On the side of Hayes & Kabob – a terrific Mediterranean restaurant – there are these bright and happy dog murals.
In front of the restaurant is a parking lot that used to be an “Elder Art Park” Fortunately, at least these pieces remain.
Because it is a parking lot, I had to shoot this at an angle, but it is called “Hula-hooping Dog” by Delaine Hackney A local mosaisist, Delaine once owned a dog grooming service, her love of dogs is obvious.
This one is by Christine HeathAccording to Christines website: Glass as an artistic medium has always satisfied a dangerous glee in me… literally playing with broken glass to create my sculptures and stain glass windows. Glass is a resilient material able to weather centuries of time yet it is fragile to the touch and can be easily destroyed. It is glass’ fragile nature and beauty that I exploit in my work, using kaotic shards of glass to manipulate and cover these forms. Glue acting as a primordial ooze holds the glass to the forms, establishing an entanglement of process and product creating a new form full of individual spirit retaining the essence but not the function of it’s past incarnation.
At the end of the building, one will find this mural by decorative painter John Baden
Hayes Valley is an amazing place for shopping and dining. Plan to spend at minimum a half day in the area, if you are coming to visit, do your homework, there are so many restaurants to choose from, and even in these difficult financial times, many times, lines are out the door.
A slight addendum, within days of my shooting these the first one was replaced by this. Such is the ethereal nature of art in San Francisco.
Aug 112011
Hayes Valley – San Francisco
Hayes Valley Farm
Thanks to the efforts of Colonel Thomas Hayes, Hayes Valley became the first outlying area of the vast Western Addition to develop. Hayes was born in 1823 in Ireland. Afflicted by gold fever, Hayes and his two brothers set sail for San Francisco, and acquired a 160-acre tract through the use of a preemption deed—effectively exercising squatters’ rights. His claim was confirmed by the Van Ness Ordinance in 1855. According to historian Bill Kostura, the boundaries of Hayes’ property can by described thusly: “This tract began near the intersection of Fulton and Polk streets, ran northwest to Turk and Laguna, thence southwest to Oak and Webster, thence south east to a point just south of Market Street, and finally northeast to the point of commencement.”
Hayes initially tried farming but he soon discovered that fog, wind, and shifting sand dunes confounded his efforts. Isn’t it fun what 100+ years and the destruction of a freeway can bring.
The farm is the result of the destruction of the Central Freeway after the Loma Prieta earthquake. It is there on a temporary basis, as a city sanctioned temporary green space. It is a wonderful use of a neglected and ugly scar on the landscape.
The SolarPump Charging Station is a self-contained island of free solar power available for the public to charge any electronic device (electric bicycles to cellphones and laptops, etc.) using a standard 110v AC plug. The bus stop-sized station inspires conversation about energy consumption, solar power and growing adoption of electric mobility.
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Update 2013 – The farm has run its course and is no longer there. The construction of a 182-unit semi-luxury condos construction project has begun.
Jul 272011
Hayes Valley – San Francisco
Hayes Valley came to prominence when film director Erich von Stroheim chose the corner of Hayes and Laguna for the filming of his 1924 film “Greed.” His affections were for a 19th-century Victorian that had been built in the early 1880s by Col. Michael Hayes as an amusement pavilion, though word has it Hayes constructed the building to lure an extension of the streetcar line to Hayes Valley. The building survived the 1906 earthquake and fire and at the time of filming was occupied only on the ground floor, by a French laundry and the Hayes Valley Pharmacy, which remained in business until the 1960s. Stroheim created signs for a dentist’s office and a photographer’s workplace for the movie, which fooled some locals into believing they were real. The film included numerous shots from the top floor of the building looking down on Hayes Valley. He also used 595-597 Hayes, a building that acted as a storeroom in the 1920s, as the site of the saloon in the film.
In the 1950’s the Central Freeway was built over the top of the neighborhood and Hayes Valley quickly descended into a rough neighborhood that remained a spot for ladies and gentlemen of the night well into the 1990’s. The 1989 earthquake brought so much destruction to the Central Freeway that they tore it down. What evolved was a neighborhood, replete with wonderful individual (read non-chain) stores and lots and lots of excellent restaurants. Wikipedia even calls it a “fashionable” neighborhood.
In the heart of the area is Patricia’s Green (in memory of neighborhood activist Patricia Walkup), also called Hayes Green. It runs the length of Octavia, between Hayes and Fell.
The Green is the sight of ever rotating art installations. I ran into the little impromptu piece on the sidewalk of the Green.
It was tagged Nik Larsen 7/7/11. I took the photo on the 22nd of July. It is chalk, and I was amazed it still was in such good shape. It is titled Violet Eclipse Mechanics. What a wonderful ethereal piece of art, that proves you must always keep your eyes open.
Nik writes a blog Chalkvisions if you want to check out other things he has done around town.
Just off the green is this piece by Ben Eine of London, a fun interview with him can be read here.Jul 262011
Hayes Valley – San Francisco
I had the privilege of catching Andy Vogt in the process of making this piece. We chatted for awhile, as he worked putting lath into the chain link fence. This space surrounds a temporary landing spot for the Museum of Craft and Art. The museum is presently in a storage unit plunked down on the corner of Hayes and Octavia. The exhibit around the museum will run through October of 2011 and is entitled Place Making. The museum invited three artists and architects to design installations based on the sites impermanent condition with architectural themes consisting of proxy, transparency, layering and light.
Andy was the creator of the first of these installations. He is a San Francisco based artist with a BFA from Carnegie Mellon. His biggest constraint was putting sculptural elements into this space. Lath is typically no more than four feet long, but Andy was working with many pieces that were much shorter. Then he had the width and height of the chain link panels which was already installed before he began work. His work is really rather phenomenal, there is such an earthy quality to working with reclaimed lath, it has such wonderful different tones and age marks, making many personalities blend into one installation.
His website has photos of other installations he has done.
This installation is not longer available for viewing.
May 272011
915 Fulton Street
This is Ron Henggeler’s Tower at 915 Fulton Street in San Francisco. Ron is a collector, he started building this 45 foot tower after the Loma Prieta Earthquake. He wandered down to where they were tearing up the Fell Street Freeway exit and scavenged the rebar, the tower grew from there. Ron may seem like a nut, and in fact he is a major scavenger, but he is also an amazing artist, and quite the historian. He is a very good photographer, and I have seen his scavenged items turned into some pretty neat things. He is a waiter at the Big Four restaurant on the top of Nob Hill. He has always been a waiter and has collected the one gallon maraschino cherry and olive jars from bartenders, to store his vast collection of stuff. This Queen Anne is five stories tall and Ron lives on the top floor with his collection, there are 11 artists in the building and they have all shared this space for over 35 years. With that many years together, I assume they are used to his quirky habits by now.
