Arena Green Park
El Monstro – Mural
I really enjoy this mural, El Monsrto, the monster! It is photo realistic and playful and I can remember my kids pretending and playing when I see it. I enjoy this for what I think and for how I feel when I appreciate it.
Technically impressive is that this was done with spray paint. The artist painted this as part of the Pow! Wow! San Jose 2019 event when numerous artists put up public art works in one week in collaboration with property owners and sponsors. The three years we have had this event have brought a lot of art to our city.
Above is a close up of the painting. Like analog-pixels of the art, up close you can see individual paints that went into the photo realistic effect that you get from stepping back. Wonderful!
Adobe Art – San Jose Semaphore
If you look at the top of the Adobe headquarters building in San Jose you will see four yellow circles with lines across them, each 10 feet in diameter and made of LED lights. That is the San Jose Semaphore , a puzzle and art piece. If you watch, the four wheels you will see that they spin every few seconds, each independently and to a different degree to relay an encrypted message.
The first puzzle was programmed into the spinning semaphores in 2006 and was solved by Mark Snesrud and Bob Mayo in 2007 to be the full text of the 1966 novel, The Crying of Lot 49.
This second semaphore puzzle went up in 2012 and eluded all code breakers until 2017 when Tennessee high school teacher Jimmy Waters broke the code. Once the spinning wheels were decoded he found that they appeared to represent an audio wave. Feeding that audio wave into software that converts it to sound resulted in the code breaker listening to the Neil Armstrong broadcast from the moon, the famous one that ended with “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
How cool is that?
What will the third puzzle solution be?
Five Skaters
Five Skaters is a public art piece that honors five bay area Olympic champion skaters: Peggy Fleming, Debi Thomas, Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi, and Rudy Galindo.
Skate Park and Murals
Butterflies
Camaraderie – Public Art
This sculpture, Camaraderie, is striking in its shape and presentation. The artists collected the words that make up large portions of its surface from the words veterans used, in person or as recorded in Library of Congress documents, when telling stories of friendship and solidarity.
Public Art at Wallenberg Park
Rock Art
I think it is fantastic that someone would take the time and resources to make art on the street. This isn’t even the front of this house. Someone placed this rock art along the street at the side of their house that sits on a corner lot. A simple thing perhaps, perhaps not, that adds beauty and interest to the lives of those who pass by. I found this place by accident wondering around a neighborhood. I am inspired.
Mural in Discovery Meadow
