Category Archives: east oakland

Words by Roads ~ part IV

This is the last one, located in my new hood at the Fruitvale Ave. exit of 580…

words by roads, Seyed Alavi, word murals oakland

They say a picture can tell a thousand words, but sometimes one word can convey something that no picture can.

I think it’s interesting how powerfully these murals communicate complex ideas in such simple visual fashion. They are classic examples of conceptual art, in which the idea takes precedence over the aesthetics.

Their beauty is found in their playfulness with language… adding the (N) in this instance completely changes the meaning of an everyday word, and forces us to think about our roles and responsibilities within this society… our democracy is only as strong as citizenry is well-informed.

The others are similarly clever and thought provoking. This is the nature of much of Seyed Alavi’s artwork, which is “engaged with the poetics of language and space and their power to shape reality.”

When these pieces  were first installed in 1992 they were intended to be temporary works.  I, for one, am glad they remain all these years later.

Please see previous two posts for more in depth discussion of Alavi, the creation of these pieces, and others.

Words By Roads ~ part III

“Art is inseparable from life.” ~ Seyed Alavi

words by roads, word murals oakland, Seyed Alavi murals

Seyed Alavi, words by roads, giant word murals, east oakland murals

This is a continuation from yesterday’s post eRACISM…

KQED did a wonderful feature on Seyed Alavi in a recent edition of Spark. Not only does Alavi discuss the creation of these murals (one of his first public art projects), explaining of this one, “You need to put your ‘I’ in [this world] to make a difference,” but he also discusses several others including his Emeryville project Signs of the Times, also a collaborative effort with local students.

Anyone who’s been to Emeryville has undoubtedly seen the striking yellow and black utility boxes featuring manipulated stick figures in unusual, comical, or paradoxical positions… one figure has a jigsaw puzzle piece for a head, one juggles three bowling ball heads, one kneels in front of a giant question mark, etc. I have always loved this project but never knew who was responsible for these clever and thought-provoking images until watching this episode…

If you have the time to watch the full episode, a recent project done for the Exploratorium in San Francisco is featured at the end, and it’s simply fascinating. The piece explores the concept of liminality – “a psychological, neurological, or metaphysical subjective, conscious state of being on the ‘threshold’ of or between two different existential planes.” (Wikipedia) Talk about deep.

eRACISM

One of a series of murals featured under various 580 freeway exits in East Oakland. My favorite of the series (Park Blvd exit) was featured awhile back… Invisible Colors.

This one’s my next favorite and is located at the High Street exit…

fruitvale exit mural, word murals oakland, eracism mural, east oakland freeway murals

There are four in total from a project titled Words by Roads which was commissioned through the City of Oakland’s Public Art Program in 1991.

Directed by Iranian born conceptual artist Seyed Alavi, the artworks were created in collaboration with sixteen students from Skyline, Fremont, and Oakland High Schools.

Alavi, who’s known for the use of language in his works, conducted creative workshops with the students “to communicate ideas about the power of language… and the social and cultural nature of public art.”

He saw himself acting merely as a facilitator and credits the ideas and sketches for the murals exclusively to the students. “These students felt racism was the most important issue to comment on and decided on four phrases… to be printed on highly visible locations in their neighborhoods.” (City of Oakland Public Art Program)

You’ll have to check back to see the others…  I’ll have more info on the artist too.

fruitvale avenue, word murals oakland, fruitvale eracism mural

Weekend Fun!

Man, it feels like summer is here… and as you can imagine, there are a whole host of ways to kick off it off right!

I’m taking a break from the bookstore series (but more coming soon) to highlight just a few of the incredible options going on this weekend…

  • ART MURMUR tonight (5pm onward) Free
    Not much to say here other than “do it”. It’s really fun as you can see from my post last month… (Art Murmur is FUN)
  • OPEN STUDIOS (Saturday & Sunday 11am – 6pm) Free
    East Bay Open Studios will be taking place over the next two weekends. This is your opportunity to, not only check out & hopefully buy some amazing art produced by local artists, but also meet the artists in person, tour their workspaces (which I always find fascinating), and enjoy some snacks while you’re at it. Get your maps/directory at the link above (download) or in this week’s East Bay express, and have fun exploring & discovering…
  • BLUEGRASS FOR THE GREENBELT (Saturday 11am – 6pm) $40 – $45
    This is a fundraiser for the Greenbelt Alliance (local advocates for “open spaces & vibrant places”) also sponsored by the Hellman Family Foundation, which I assume is related to Warren Hellman, producer-extraordinaire of San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. This event is not free like HSB, but it’s for a good cause, and appropriately located on the beautiful rolling lawns of Oakland’s Dunsmuir-Hellman Historic Estate – a 37-room Neoclassical Revival mansion built in 1899 on 50 acres of urban park land.
  • TOWN FUNK BLOCK PARTY, 19th St. @ Park Blvd. (Saturday 12pm – 5pm) Free
    My friend Desi’s organization Community Rejuvenation Project has orchestrated this BBQ/party in conjunction with local neighborhood businesses and organizations to celebrate arts & community.  Featuring tons of live music including a Michael Jackson tribute by DJ Zeph, free food, the unveiling of four new murals, and more.  Should be a blast!
  • MUSIC IN THE GARDENS, Lake Merritt (Sunday 11am – 4pm) Free
    “Stroll through the beautiful Lake Merritt-adjacent gardens and encounter diverse musical ensembles, from vintage blues to klezmer, classics to classical, Japanese flute to Renaissance recorder, and the Pacific Boychoir. This event will include gardening demonstrations, children’s activities, and tasty food.” I visited the gardens recently on a spin around the lake and they are gorgeous and fully in bloom.  If you haven’t visited recently, I highly recommend it!
  • TEMESCAL STREET FAIR, Telegraph between 45th & 51st (Sunday 12pm – 6pm) Free
    Featuring two stages of live music & performances, “foodie row” with samples of the amazing culinary wizardry available in this new gourmet district, craft & art booths, fashion shows, a Green Zone with info about greening your home, and much much more.

I’m sure there’s more going on as well, but these are the things I’ve got on my radar.  Wish I could do ’em all!

Have a great weekend everybody!

ps – I didn’t have a photo for today, so I’m posting this cute kitty I met recently… (too cute!)