Road trip to Arizona 2006

 

 

The second day in the city I spent enjoying the works of The De Young Museum which was Founded in 1895 in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park The de Young Museum has been an integral part of the cultural fabric of the city and a cherished destination for millions of residents and visitors to the region for over 100 years.

On October 15, 2005, the de Young Museum re-opened in a state-of-the-art new facility that integrates art, architecture and the natural landscape in one multi-faceted destination that will inspire audiences from around the world.

what an amazing building

Andrew Goldsworthy, one of my favorite artists had an interesting installation at the entrance of the museum.  Entitled "Faultline," it is continuous crack in the stone pavers running north from the edge of the Music Concourse roadway in front of the museum, up the main walkway, into the exterior courtyard, and up to the main entrance door. Along its path, this crack will bisect several large stones that will serve as seating for museum visitors. Goldsworthy's work is inspired by the unique character of California's tectonic topography, as well as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that rendered the old de Young unsafe. The new de Young building has been constructed with the latest in seismic technology to withstand intense earthquakes.

 

Inside the museum there were a few of myfavorite artistists
this is a rocking chair by Sam Maloof

 

My neighbor from Ellensburg had two pieces exhibited
John Orembrek and Billy Morris. They make beautiful art glass sculptures

 

On the outside of the museum were a few amazing exhibits

need I say more

Then there was another favotite of mine, James Turrell whose project for the de Young is his first skyspace to adopt the stupa form. The sculpture is sited in a grass-covered hill in the Osher Sculpture Garden. Viewers walk through a short tunnel cut into the hill, and then enter into a cylindrical space carved out of the hill. The retaining walls of this cylindrical space will be white concrete and the floor will be red stone. At the center of this cylindrical space is be a rough-hewn, black basalt stupa form. Entering the round stupa through a door, viewers will sit on a stone bench that runs around the circumference of the skyspace and view the sky through an oculus cut in the roof of the chamber. Viewers’ perceptions of the sky color will be subtly altered by an L.E.D. lighting system inside the chamber, and by changing light and weather conditions outside the chamber.