Charles Amirkhanian talks with artist Bonnie Sherk, about her environmental art piece “Portable Parks” in which a freeway on-ramp, and a couple of concrete traffic islands were temporarily turned into idyllic oasis’ of green, complete with strips of live turf, palm trees, and grazing Guernsey calves. These conceptual art installations were financed with prize money won in a San Francisco Museum of Art Society’s competition, and were warmly received by the public despite some slow downs in traffic as drivers tried to make sense of this sudden change in scenery. This interview, recorded after the fact, contains detailed information on the response to the work by highway patrol, who were not unanimously enamored with Sherk’s concept, as well as some concern’s that arose due to the potential dangers such a distracting event may have had on passing drivers. However, despite these issues the installations were generally regarded as quite a success, and no serious injuries or accidents resulted. Note: For a picture of one of these installations, and additional information, go to http://www.alivinglibrary.org/book1/pg4l.jpg Note: For an earlier interview, recorded a few days before the installations were set up please see the radiom.org program “Bonnie Sherk and her Portable Parks” |
