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Urban Art Project Unveiled In Downtown Long Beach

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By Daniel DeBoom
 | Monday, 16 August 2010 10:00
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2nd District Councilmember Suja Lowenthal addresses the crowd under the canopy of the project.

3:00pm | The wraps were taken off a new public art project in downtown Long Beach over the weekend, as the crane-and-cargo-net design of Los Angeles art group Greenmeme was unveiled for the first time.

The project is called Urban Lab: Chantilly Clad and will temporarily occupy the lot at Ocean Boulevard and Lime Avenue while the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency (RDA) works on plans to construct a mixed-use residential property on the site. For now, the land is vacant and so the Long Beach Arts Council brought in artists to create a temporary installment.

Greenmeme artists Freya Bardell and Brian Howe used more than 30,000 feet of woven cargo netting, a reclaimed lumber stages and a couple of cranes for good measure to create the project, meant at honoring Long Beach's port and harbor heritage. The project takes on many forms depending on what angle you're viewing it from, but is certainly a better alternative to staring at an empty lot while it awaits development.

Photographer extraordinaire Daniel DeBoom was on hand for the unveiling, which was christened with a performance by hip-hop violinist Paul Dateh and DJ Inka One as part of the Summer And Music series. Check out the images below and stop by to see Urban Lab: Chantilly Clad when you get a chance.

Disclosure: Summer And Music is an advertiser of the LBPOST.com.

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Archived Comments (22)
LB Resident
A day before the City Council is to discuss laying off crossing guards and cutting police and canceling the hugely popular municipal band all due to a money crisis, and you don't mention in your story how much this piece of public "art" cost? And I don;t care if the dollars came from some other pocket, it's still money that could be spent on something other than magnified Coleman lantern testicle netting.
AlamitosBeachRes
How about ripping out the asphalt, replacing with some plants that don't require a lot of maintenance or water, put in a swing set, and call it park that sex offenders are not allowed to live within 2000 feet of? The existing buildings in the area (starting with the one sharing the parking lot) should be renovated before new ones are build up.
Cash Machine
It cost $80,000...and of course the artist was most likely not from Long Beach.
Pigeon
Ugly and useless. The fiscal outrages go on...
Joseph E
I kinda like how it looks.

This was paid for by the RDA (Redevelopment Agency), which otherwise spendings its money subsidizing "affordable" (or at least "less expensive") housing and other new developments.

80k would hardly pay to build one apartment or condo, let alone a house. I think public art is a reasonable use of RDA money, especially on a site that would otherwise be just vacant lot.
Public Fart
Can you imagine living behind that ugly piece of shut, having to look at it every day blocking your view? These artists are all idiots, always floating around in the clouds, and they wine and dine with these heads of RDA's who all keep wasting public money.
Jon
Agree with Joseph that public art is a reasonable use of RDA money. I disagree that this particular piece is aesthetically pleasing. Did this really cost $80K, couldn't they have used that to create a green space and rezone it a park like AlamitosBeachRes suggested?
blueribboncommish
vacant art on a vacant lot funded by the RDA. sounds about right to me. go long beach-
(that money would have touched more peoples lives in positive ways had it been used to help fund the LBJCB.)
STOP SPENDING
Isn't that Suja Lowenthal front and center?
We spend $80,000 on something like this and the Municipal Band Concerts are in danger of being discontinued? Who authorizes these expenditures?
Joseph E
"Of course the artist was most likely not from Long Beach"

Easy fact check: the artistsFreya Bardell and Brian Howe have their office in the Atwater neighborhood of Los Angeles; see Greenmeme.com.

I don't know where they live, of course. I think Los Angeles counts as local; I would hope that the City of Los Angeles would hire artists from Long Beach, for example.
Joseph E
Re: "Did this really cost $80K, couldn't they have used that to create a green space and rezone it a park like AlamitosBeachRes suggested?"

I don't know about the cost of public art, but 80k won't buy you a park.

The small new park at the corner of the Promenade and 1st street is about 1/4 of a block in size, and cost the RDA $11.7 million, according to this story:

http://www.gazettes.com/news/article_eb55e97b-87c3-5bdb-a59b-75708d8eefb8.html

I think the cost includes a fancy new building for the Bikestation.
Construction cost inflation is really out of control; every project is getting more expensive. And it's not just government work, look at he cost estimates for new office towers downtown, or the PCH and 2nd project.

Even the K-9 corner dog park at Pacific and 9th, which is only 35 x 100 feet (the size of a single home), cost $300,000:

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_13437563
omg
Hanging macrame lanterns for 80 thousand!!!!! OOOOOOMMMMMGGGG
Typical LB
Simply Awful. Just like the Orange IUD. Perfectly awful.
Jon
Wow, $11.7M for a park the size of 1/4 of a block? That's crazy, how does that happen? I'd love to see the project invoice on that one. That can't be for material costs. Anyways I wouldn't even care all that much what the park looked like, I'm suggesting it is more for legal purposes to be able to kick out more sex offenders in the 90802. Rezoning that parcel of land I would assume is the most important part in the process.
to joeseph e
LA is not local. LA artists don't contribute to building the Long Beach art scene. The RDA invests in art to develop an art scene to gentrify the city. When you plop art from LA here. 5 people show up to see the unveiling and then everyday LB residetns drive by and go WTF? Meanwhile, LB artists have packed up and moved to LA. It seems a 310 area code impresses the LB Public Art Staff more than a Long Beach artist can.
please-
do not ever call me an artist again.
RDA Clueless
Is it fair to say the RDA is as clueless as the Arts Council?
Baktaash
There are so many pessimistic commenters on here! To be complaining about spending $80,000 on a public art piece-in a city this size-is simply pathetic. Long Beach has a population of about 500,000. So the cost to each resident of Long Beach for having this piece installed is 16 cents.

This art piece is activating an otherwise vacant lot near a huge, busy intersection. The art piece will continue to highlight this prime area for about 2 years until the lot gets developed into the tax-generating high-rises that it is destined to be.

If we really want LB to not be the sh*thole that so many commenters claim it to be, maybe we should start holding it to a higher standard....
vast conspiracy
I don't understand the thinking of spending on a project like this - ridiculous. It does not relate to it's surroundings and does little or nothing to improve the empty lot. 80K would go a long way toward supporting the municipal band. It is just as stupid as some of these street improvement projects, unnecessary spending on roundabouts on Vista in the Heights when my own street has curbs falling apart and the concrete buckling due to the roots of a ficus tree the city won't trim regularly or allow to be cut down, and sidewalks in need of repair all over the place. I don't care if it is considered federal money, we still pay for it in taxes. Same foolish thinking...
Concerned
Did you know that the city of Long Beach stuck the artists with a $30,000 bill to rent the cranes for this project?
questioning
How did everyone find out the exact costs of the project? Is 80K what the artist's received?
Efren Luna
So I saw it in person a few days ago. When I saw it, no doubt it reminded me of the port and the cranes that load and unload containers....I thought, 'I... don't want to be reminded of this' -'The crude and geometric shapes of the metal beams are so boring and dull no creativity'. I know it was an elaborate process to built, anchor and put together this installation. But, art is usually judged for what it is at end and not for the elaborate process. I was surprised to find a link that explained that this is the exact purpose, 'port-related materials'. We all know we have a port and when we look at art we don't want to be reminded of the port. We want to be transported beyond that. Here is the link: http://laist.com/2010/08/10/long_beach_finishes_public_art_venu.php

Besides being reminded of the port, the metal beams seem to have only one purpose. Physically they support the three fishing-net-like pieces in the middle. What I found interesting is the weaved boat rope that forms the fishing-net-like canopies. If the goal was to remind people of the port and cranes that unload containers this is successful.

I saw the video of the performance and it looked much more interesting: http://www.artslb.org/news/chantilly-clad-and-classical-beats . But I haven't experienced the installation in performance mode in person. The space might work as a performance space but it seems that a small percentage of time, especially in the summer, ( http://www.summerandmusic.com/ ),is used for that purpose and the vast majority of time just sits there when people have to look at it. This piece of art does not engage the people as it could have on the daily basis. It makes people who look at it and wonder with a puzzled look hoping to discover its purpose.

I wish there was more thought as to its daily interaction with residents an people passing by in their regular daily walks. On the other hand, I am eager since summer is coming up and waiting to see it in action with performances and see and experience a different face of this installation!

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