You remember Gadsby Creson and her maquettes, don'tcha? Well, this is not a replica, this rack is life-size. Fittingly affixed in front of Metalworks, this is one of the most abstract racks Memphis has seen. Not mimicing anything, that is, excepting that Broad Avenue mayhaps surpass South Main as the de facto art district in Memphis. That's a long way off, though. Galleries in both districts need to take a cue from Odessa and frequent the amount of exhibitions. But I digress, let's talk more about the rack.
With the way this rack is positioned any bike will pretty much be blocking the sidewalk. Which, in my opinion, is better than having a table set up behind it:
"Hello, I will make your pretty bicycle rack inoperable while I distribute information on how to make your city more bicycle friendly." I don't know if that was the case, but it seems likely. Much like the absence of recycling bins at BPAC meetings. (Noticed that, too, did ya?)
The more logical thing to do would be to put the rack nearer to one of the district termini, freeing up the sidewalk for browsing the galleries. Also, the bike lane is not sidewalk overflow, everyone.
Here's how it racks up:
Form - Artistic
Function - Half-Pass: It will accommodate 9 bicycles but they block the sidewalk
Environment - Artistic in an art district
Points of Interest - Metalworks, Urban Art Commission, The Cove, Odessa
3 comments:
Cort, during A New Face for an Old Broad, this rack was placed in an imaginary bulb-out on the road like where some of the trees were placed. The sidewalks here are too narrow for racks, but until Broad gets a real makeover, it'll have to do.
Also want to get in a plug for my metal buddy, Jerry Cuillard, designer/builder of this rack and proprietor of MetalWorks www.mtlwrks.com
I remember that now that you mention it. I thought it looked great there.
Thanks, Bob!
Post a Comment