Here There and Knitting

 

A series of 8 foot high metal letters spelling out HERE on the Berkeley side of the border and THERE on the Oakland side, commissioned in 2005 as part of Berkeley’s mandated ‘public art’ component in or around eligible public building projects, has been creating a bit of a stir ever since it was erected. Even though there has been no official Oakland reaction to being the ‘THERE’ side of the boundary instead of the ‘HERE’, there’s a nagging feeling that Berkeley’s innate superiority, reflected in being ‘HERE’, is a snub to the slightly ragged more ethnically diverse Oakland.

The original call for artwork submissions, on the City’s website states:

 “In order to create a definitive entrance to the City of Berkeley, this project will utilize public art to give the City's borders a recognizable entry on the south side of Berkeley. This project will help distinguish Berkeley from neighboring cities by serving as a transition from one vicinity to the next. Artwork that is reflective of and/or involves the community and its history is encouraged. It is highly suggested that the word "Berkeley" be incorporated into the artwork. This public art project aspires to create a welcoming sense of entrance into the City of Berkeley by serving as a friendly monument to both motorists and pedestrians.”

Not sure I think the winning project met that criteria but who cares once the city’s officials could describe it as a whimsical piece with literary connotations like the Poetry Walkway downtown. Gertrude Stein, whose misused quote about Oakland ‘there is no there there’ is hinted at in this sculpture never actually disparaged her hometown but meant that she could no longer go home after discovering that her childhood home had been torn down.

Ironically, the HERE THERE sculpture is far more pleasing than the ‘official’ There! sculpture in Jack London Square by artist Roslyn Mazzili.

But finally, after years of feeling that Oakland was being insulted, Berkeley’s own version of the Tea Party decided to knit a woolen cozy to slip over the T as a protest against the sculpture. Now, Berkeley officials have decided to show their worst and most humorless face by demanding the knitters remove their woolly sheath and are threatening unspeakable acts against these domestic terror-knitters.

Personally, I think it’s another storm in a Berkeley teacup and the re-facement of the sculpture adds character at the very least to the dull original. Oakland can just sit back and laugh at their smaller northern neighbor and marvel at the amount of spare time the city has to waste.

And as for me - I would always rather be somewhere other than here….

 

Comments

[JoAnn]

Jill,
Gertrude stein did say that, but she was speaking about Alice B's natal home. Ms Stein was born in Pennsylvania...
JoAnn

[JP]

Yes! But she was referring to Oakland, right? And am I right that it was about a home she cared about being 'gone'? Or am I just another Stein user, like all the other miserable losers???

[themacinator]

you totally beat me to this one. i've been trying to come up with a clever way to blog this- i love it. i love the sculpture and am totally not insulted by the there/here (oakalnd born and raised). it's all about yarnbombing to bring it home.

[JP]

So, here's the birth history....Alice B was actually born in San Francisco. Gertrude was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania in 1874, and her father's work took the family to Vienna and Paris and back to America, where they settled in Oakland - all before Gertrude was a tender 5 years old. Gertrude attended the First Hebrew Congregation of Oakland School and in 1892, after the deaths of her parents her brother arranged for her to go live with her mother's family in Baltimore...