SLIDE CLIMBER 1978
Slide-Climber c. 12’ x 7’ x 6’ high
Berkeley, CA
Berkeley, CA
This was my first public commission and my first playground sculpture. I got the idea from seeing large concrete pipes near a construction site where the city was replacing some old underground water pipes. I built a small model around a paper tube and presented my design to Berkeley's Civic Arts Commission.
THE PROPOSAL
I present these sections from my original Proposal to show how simple and cheap such things were in 1978 in Berkeley. The prices now seem from another world, and they were.
I present these sections from my original Proposal to show how simple and cheap such things were in 1978 in Berkeley. The prices now seem from another world, and they were.
The City of Berkeley supplemented the very meager $700 grant by providing the concrete pipe section which was brought to my house, and by providing the labor and transportation of the sculpture to the park as well as its installation in James Kenney Park. And not least, they covered all this with their insurance. I was to learn in later years what having insurance coverage for public artworks entails. Not being able to afford the overhead of liability insurance was eventually part of the reason I stopped seeking commissions for public works.
What I also did not foresee was the brief life of this little piece in its intended location. I was not informed of the reason for its demise, but after a few years it was no longer there. Unfortunately, this became the fate of many of my public mosaic works. Vandalism and lack of maintenance budgets were at least partly responsible for their removal.
What I also did not foresee was the brief life of this little piece in its intended location. I was not informed of the reason for its demise, but after a few years it was no longer there. Unfortunately, this became the fate of many of my public mosaic works. Vandalism and lack of maintenance budgets were at least partly responsible for their removal.
FABRICATION
When the concrete pipe was delivered to me, I had it placed in my driveway propped up near its front on two cinderblocks. Into these blocks I had cemented a length of chain that I fastened around the pipe. Next I clad the pipe with metal lath and from the same lath built up the forms I designed to serve as steps for climbing up the body. I used the same lath to shape the horns and the feet, tying the sections together with baling wire.
The two "feet" were built up separately from the body. Made of stacks of cinderblocks tied together by rebar and filled with concrete, they were shaped into toes etc. with the metal lath.
Over and into this lath "skin" I applied the concrete, and then set the tiles onto this skin with cement. On the end rims of the pipe, I set the tiles directly onto the concrete. I left the inside of the pipe as it was.
When the concrete pipe was delivered to me, I had it placed in my driveway propped up near its front on two cinderblocks. Into these blocks I had cemented a length of chain that I fastened around the pipe. Next I clad the pipe with metal lath and from the same lath built up the forms I designed to serve as steps for climbing up the body. I used the same lath to shape the horns and the feet, tying the sections together with baling wire.
The two "feet" were built up separately from the body. Made of stacks of cinderblocks tied together by rebar and filled with concrete, they were shaped into toes etc. with the metal lath.
Over and into this lath "skin" I applied the concrete, and then set the tiles onto this skin with cement. On the end rims of the pipe, I set the tiles directly onto the concrete. I left the inside of the pipe as it was.
INSTALLATION
The city sent a crew to take the finished Slide-Climber to James Kenney Park in West Berkeley. Surprisingly the crane that had lifted the concrete pipe over onto our driveway was unable to lift the now much heavier pipe bearing the added weight of the concrete and tiles I had applied to it. The truck, trying to lift from one side, actually started to tilt onto that side, and the lifting attempt was aborted. We had to remove the fence on the side of the driveway so they could position the truck's rear in line with the piece for the lift. Finally it was loaded, along with the two large feet, was driven to the park and installed properly in its destined place.
The city sent a crew to take the finished Slide-Climber to James Kenney Park in West Berkeley. Surprisingly the crane that had lifted the concrete pipe over onto our driveway was unable to lift the now much heavier pipe bearing the added weight of the concrete and tiles I had applied to it. The truck, trying to lift from one side, actually started to tilt onto that side, and the lifting attempt was aborted. We had to remove the fence on the side of the driveway so they could position the truck's rear in line with the piece for the lift. Finally it was loaded, along with the two large feet, was driven to the park and installed properly in its destined place.
The move
The finished piece
How long my Slide Climber remained there and why it was removed, I have not been able to learn.