SPLATT

You know that giant Tiki on Fourth Ave.?

The one in front of The Hut almost everyone including local media seems to be calling a Tiki?

Well folks, it ain’t no Tiki.

At least that’s my take (and that of a few others as well).

According to Wikipedia: “Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used as it relates to Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man.”

So okay that works I suppose. 

But a bust of George W. Bush could be a Tiki as well.  

To my eye it’s a Moai, created by the Rapanui people as a way of honoring their ancestors and found on Easter Island.

Imagine a statue of Shiva and everyone calling it Jesus because they are both sacred depictions.

Weird right?

Now I’m no anthropologist, but if we’re going to use depictions of sacred symbols from distant lands to sell booze (or miniature golf), I’d think getting the cultural context right would be the least we could do.

And regardless of whether it is called a Tiki or Moai, a huge thumbs-up to the folks at The Hut for saving this wonderful bit of local folk art from the wrecking ball and giving it a new life downtown.

Too bad someone couldn’t have saved the historic Santa Rita Hotel as well…

Thoughts?

Moai set in the hillside at Rano Raraku.

Photo of mysterious monkey-like creatures photographed at feeding time during a recent trip to the Central Park Zoo in New York City which is presented here for illustrative purposes only. PHOTO: GLENN WEYANT

You might ask yourself:  What is the connection between news stories about Michael Jackson’s legs and a rogue monkey reform school In India?

Good question.

Last week I posted a story about Michael Jackson’s odd leg condition.

Then I asked if this was the sort of news you’d like to see more of.

AZMOUSE summed up the majority opinion by noting: “Well, I thought it was interesting.”

So based upon  last week’s statistical click position, this week I would like to ask for your thoughts regarding Rogue Monkey Reform School.

Yep.

Hardened outlaw monkeys doing time for their crimes against humanity.

You like?

Over time I hope to  establish a sort of news appetite baseline.

What news do you find tasty?

What news gives you the quick step?

And so on.

Your feedback and clicks will help me refine this blog further as time allows.

At this point: Dead pop star news is tops.

Thank you and stay in touch.

SPLATT site stats for the MJ story:

A: Top 50 Page views by blog for the week July 17 to July 23: (Legacy site traffic deleted):

# 18. SPLATT 659 views or 0.8% of the site total.

B: Top 50 Page Views by Post for the week of July 17 – July 23:

2. STRANGE PHOTOS OF MICHAEL JACKSON’S LEGS – SPLATT 589 views or 1.4% of the site total.

Not Michael Jackson's Legs But A Possible Authentic Scenario If He Were To Hang In Tucson Playing A Banjo And Drinking A Beer And Did Not Look Like Himself

Earlier this week the Clan of TucsonCitizen Bloggers were forwarded traffic details for Web posts.

From what I can tell audience interests lie more with FOX than PBS.

And this got me to thinking:

What is it you the reader want to read about?

So here is the first story in a series of experiments.

Now, would you like to read:

More like this?

Less like this?

Kindly post your thoughts if you wish and when the numbers for SPLATT come out later this week I’ll share them with you.

During a recession does public art maintenance get put on the back-burner?

And if so, should it be?

I’m trying to find out.

As some of you know, one of my passions is playing the world with a cello bow and implements of mass percussion.

For a recent work titled: University of Arizona Sounding, I played some of the sculptures on campus gently with great amplification and soft mallets.

In the process I became alarmed to see that much of the public art on display was showing signs of structural stress and decay.

Water damage at base of Curving Arcades. Photo: Glenn Weyant

The split steel on Athena Tacha’s  Curving Arcades, three independent sections of 16-foot-high split sheets of steel bolted to a submerged concrete base, is rusting in some places with the steel visibly cracking in others.

Some of Barbara Grygutis’   Front Row Center’s  bronze chairs are showing signs of structural cracking.

The resin applications on Taller Yonke’s Border Sculpture  have begun to crack and peel as well.  In some locations  sections are missing.

At the Student Union war memorial, one of the two fountain chains streaming water did not appear to work and both appeared to be caked with mineral crust.

I’ve noticed similar distress on other public sculptures around town as well.

Heading into the city on Broadway for example, the Rattlesnake Bridge exterior is clearly peeling in places and rusting in others.

Cracking resin on Border Sculpture. In some locations sections are loose or missing. Photo: Glenn Weyant

Now here is where I could use some help.

When I started this blog I fell into my old journalistic habits of rounding up sources and writing a story based on quotes by city officials, UA officials, artists and so on.

But this being the new age of news and all, I thought it might be better to turn to you, the reader, for help in reporting.

I’ll poke around and update this story as I find out answers, but for now I’d like to know:

What is your take on this?

Should public money be spent on maintaining public art in a time of recession when education and basic services are being threatened?

What is the value of public art?

Does anyone know of other examples of public artwork in decay or direct cuts to art maintenance funding?

Should damaged art be taken down and placed in storage until better economic times roll around?

How about creating volunteer programs similar to adopt a highway only focused on adopting public art?

Do you know an artist who has a public installation anywhere in Tucson?

What other questions need to be asked or answered?

Is this even a story?

I look forward to reading your thoughts and seeing how this develops.

The Student Union war memorial appears to be only partially working and suffering from mineral deposit caking. Photo: Glenn Weyant.