Serpent sculpture slithers into downtown Syracuse, connects community
The sheet lifted, a pair of silver steel eyes stared out at the spectators. The eyes belonged to a thick, blue steel and wooden serpent with a head perched 12 feet high.Its body, broken into twisted and winding coils, disappears into the ground and reappears at the surface, with one flat coil serving as a bench.
The Onondaga Creekwalk is not the only thing snaking through the city of Syracuse anymore.
‘It speaks the same language as the creek,’ said artist Brendan Rose of his serpent, which moves through the ground much like the creek does through the city.
Community members gathered Friday on the Onondaga Creekwalk, located between W. Fayette Street and Walton Street in downtown Syracuse, to watch Rose unveil a giant steel and wooden serpent, Walt the Loch Ness Monster, an artistic piece developed through the Syracuse Public Artist in Residence.
Rose and students picked the name of the serpent based on community members, who posted a long list of ideas on a website.
‘It was a way to engage the public in the piece,’ Rose said.
Rose and nine of Syracuse University’s industrial and interaction design students collaborated on the installation since last spring. SPAR also paired up with the Connective Corridor and Downtown Committee for funding and maintenance.
‘I think the students for the most part were very positive about it and engaged with it,’ Rose said. The project pushed their comfort zone, as it was an unconventional classroom experience.
The installation is one of many art pieces on the Connective Corridor line. This ongoing project selects artists to work with community members to build meaningful pieces along the transportation route.
‘There is the idea of a collaborative effort behind building pieces of art on the Connective Corridor. The process is just as important as the product,’ said Robbi Farschman, director of the Connective Corridor.
Farschman also said Rose is working on a ‘Feel Love’ video in which he asks people to say where they feel the love in Syracuse to help him pick the site of his next installation.
For ‘The Molting of Walt,’ Rose first had to find a location for the piece. Rose and the students decided on the Creekwalk. They thought this area, with a small yet luscious patch of grass near The Warehouse and the Onondaga Creek, was the perfect place for their serpent.
‘There was something nice about it being a brand-new space being developed in the city,’ Rose said, explaining that he wanted to establish a new identity in the city as opposed to working in a space that already had one.
Rose said he believes the serpent, a prominent animal in mythical stories, will promote the environment within the city.
‘The serpent acts as a symbolic protector of that space. Humans have harmed the environment, and we are recommitted to defending it,’ he said.
Among spectators at the event was Pat Infantine, a woman who lives in downtown Syracuse. Infantine echoes what most people were feeling at the unveiling.
‘I walk through here all the time. I live downtown and watched it happen,’ Infantine said. ‘It’s just a whimsical, wonderful expression of what Syracuse can be.’
Published on November 13, 2011 at 12:00 pm
