The Tartan Online: "The pole is down.
Long live the pole.
With the un-eagerly anticipated resurrection of Walking to the Sky sometime this week, our campus will once again be graced by a large metal rod hovering over the Cut. This new one should hopefully not strike fear into the hearts of both campus administration and passersby as they stare at it swaying maniacally in the breeze. And isn’t that a relief?"
5 comments:
I remember last year in my crit histories class we were discussing the artistic value of the "walk to the sky" pole and if the school should really be investing its money in restoring it especially because its so expensive and since there are better ways the school could be using that money. Personally, I think its really important for a campus to have art work and display is reverence for the arts whether or not its well-liked or thought to be as stupid as our infamous 'walk to the sky' pole. I also think that since everyone in our school knows about the pole, its become something really particular to only CMU and something really talked about year after year which is great because art should always invoke discussion
Ben talked about how his daughter had commented on the "walk to the sky" pole. His daughter said that, when the only figure remaining on the pole, was that the school seemed to be promoting a girl on a pole. Not exactly the best image for a university. Obviously this is not what the school is promoting with the people walking towards the sky, but it's an interesting observation. I wonder if the school has anymore plans to create art on campus that promotes the "progress" mentality of CMU. I think an installation reflecting the "heart is in the work" motto of CMU would be a nice addition to the campus.
As a "senior" I relish the pre-Walking-to-The-Sky days. Seriously CMU, why did you have to do that to our campus? Not to mention when they installed it, they almost cut the main line for the CMU server network and cost the school untold millions in technical support. Almost. Someone ran out and stopped them before they managed to do permanent harm, but the entire experience was just an amazing example of how much the impact of the artwork on campus crosses wires. The shack in the ground, previously the brown wedge? That was over a million dollars to install. And now it's broken again. It's just...frustrating. We have amazing artists on campus - I've met some of them. Where do we get this stuff from and who chooses it? I want to introduce them to some of their students. :/
I really appreciate Walking to the Sky. It's not my favorite piece of art in the world, in fact i'm not crazy about it at all, but I think it does present our campus in an interesting way from Forbes, where most visitors pass and enter. It's an interesting, impressive, memorable modern piece surrounded by older (or at least older looking) building and schools. I think it represents the university well, juxtaposing tradition and modern style and technology.
GUYS, THIS ARTICLE WAS HILARIOUS!!! HILARIOOOUUUSSS!!! I was reading this aloud to the Robert Kubisen, the Sarah Kael Gillam, and the Tegan McDuffy, and I'm pretty sure we were all crying our eyes out via tears of laughter. I've dissed the pole so many times and not once did I ever consider why it was there and what it was called and the fact that it's a pretty beautiful message. Controversial art pieces are the BEST, and I pretty much forgot about that. I love that this article reminded me so humorously. It was engaging, fun, and the only article I have read on the Blog that made me laugh to no end. I'm taking a way closer look at all the art on campus. Thank you, once again, CMU, for making me think about things before I say them.
Sincerely,
Shar
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