Something there is that doesn't love a concrete barrier

"My interest is to try to create an interesting, stimulating, alternative experience," public-space artist Christopher Janney, an architect and jazz musician trained at Princeton and MIT, told a Boston Globe reporter on the occasion of the formal opening this day of his "Rainbow Cove," an architecture-and-music installation just around the bend from Chelsea-by-the-Sea at Boston's Logan Airport. (Barry Chin, Globe Staff Photo)  Check below for our crackpot theory that ties together the controversial Baghdad concrete barriers, Janney's transformative walls of light and sound and our own New England poet laureate Robert Frost's "something there is that doesn't love a wall."

"It is obviously essential that any candidate is 100 percent committed to reducing the CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions in America by at least 25 percent," pontificated the latest smart person stepping out beyond his area of expertise into the ether of the Global-Warming Church of Eternal Salvation. In this case it was Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines, a brilliant entrepreneur who had already come up with a totally awesome market-driven alternative to bypass someone who calls herself Sheryl Crow's call to swipe one's a** with only one square of TP per "sitting," his "25m climate bid" announced two months back:

Millions of pounds are on offer for the person who comes up with the best way of removing significant amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson launched the competition today in London alongside former US vice-president Al Gore.

Great idea, and we held our nose as the be-knighted one hitched his star to the bloviating Cigar Store Indian's wagon one more time. We always squirm when we are being condescended to. The human-induced-global-warming meme that has insinuated itself into the hearts and "minds" of the uninformed multitudes is a wonderment. Big lies rule in the short term. Only history, looking back, can pinpoint the truths that lay hidden to contemporaries beneath the spin and din of self-interested rhetoric during real time. One of our all-time favorite Christmas stories was "Why the chimes rang." The wealthy visitors to the babe in a manger with their opulent gifts took credit for the chimes' ringing, but it was actually the humble gift of a poor child that touched God's heart. Mysterious ways happen.

Now for our crackpot theory. Justapose artist Janney's words with those of a Baghdadi engineer who doesn't love a wall:

1. Janney: “The great thing about interactive technologies is they allow people to have a sense of participation in their environment. As an architect, my interest is to help people feel less alienated -- especially in urban situations. Putting interactive environments in cities is a foil really, it’s a way of encouraging total strangers to interact and participate in a more benign social environment.”

2. Ahmed al-Dulaimi, a 41-year-old Iraqi engineer: "This will make the whole district a prison. This is collective punishment on the residents of Azamiyah. They are going to punish all of us because of a few terrorists here and there. We are in our fourth year of occupation and we are seeing the number of blast walls increasing day after day, suffocating the people more and more."

We can't imagine maintaining our sanity -- whassat? -- under the conditions our fellow PJM blogger Omar Fadhil and his bro at Iraq the Model do. Here's his take on walls:

There are definitely downsides that come from surrounding communities with walls, mostly psychological and social. It’s sad to watch the capital of your country become the only city in the world that resembles a compartmentalized fortress where you need tall concrete walls to slightly improve the margin of safety.

But this is war and we can’t afford living in denial of the seriousness of threats. Emotions must not be allowed to disrupt taking practical steps that can save lives. So while I understand where PM Maliki is coming from in his opposition to the wall I have to disagree with him.

Here's our crackpot proposal, as offered in the comments at PJM today:

Has anyone thought of transforming the concrete walls from a soul-deadening barrier into a soul-uplifting light-and-sound "destination," a place that enhances city life by its design? I know it sounds loony, but architect/jazz musician Christopher Janney's "Rainbow Cove" installation at our local Boston Logan Airport got me to thinking.

We're thinking -- outside the box -- in a Richard Branson vs. Sheryl Crow sense. Any takers?

Update: Chris Janney makes our day in this heart-stopping email response:

I think about situations like this a great deal. Creating the RIGHT social/tribal foil for life-supporting (not life-threatening) interaction. It's one thing to make it work in a high-anxiety underground subway, quite another in this condition. First step -- you can't teach someone who isn't willing to learn.

But I am intrigued.  Thanks for making my day.

Dr. Sanity referenced the very thing today with the classic joke about "how many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb? . . . just one . . . but the lightbulb really has to want to change."

Comments

[goomp]

I don't feel qualified to pass judgement on the topic. However, I have seen instances from peiods of artistic fashion that can be interesting. Still traditional has wider appeal for me than innovations that are primarily geared to attract attention.

[Sissy Willis]

Goomp: I think this work is more akin to landscape architecture -- placemaking -- than to art objects that say "look at me." Tuck and I are planning to walk over one day soon and have a look for ourselves . . . Will let you know what we think. :-)

[Be]

Coming back home last January, I ran into this installation and was *completely* blown away by it. The soothing sounds combined with the light streaming in through the windows provided such a soothing transition between the nightmarish travel experience (headwinds caused our flight time to be doubled - from six to nearly 13 hours) and the upcoming day at work.

My ride home was also impressed by the simplicity (and relatively low cost?) of the setup too. We both agreed that this was public art that we were more than happy to fund.

***

Never thought I'd say this, but I actually enjoy going to Logan now. The terminals they've renovated so far are becoming destinations in their own right for me.

[Sissy Willis]

Be: I've forwarded your wonderful comments to the designer. Can't wait to experience it for myself. :-)