In the Belly of the Beast....
Beltline Art Project along the proposed route of the Beltline. Looks no better in the sunny light of day.
The Butt End of the Behemoth...or mouth.
These are some of the tires the artists DIDN'T use...why not remove them? It contributes in a very glaring way to the specific problem we are having with dumpers. And how are the Beltline folks any different here? Geez....
On further thought: This really is the immediate business of Adair Park residents. They should be leading the charge here: Their local historian can see this lovely piece of art from her porch.
Of course it concerns all neighborhoods surrounding….but it’s of the first consideration where it’s placed…and that is Adair Park.
I believe all of us (Capitol View, Capitol View Manor and Sylvan Hills ) will support Adair Park in this business, but they need to lead it. If not…perhaps this is why things don’t change on this side of town???
Lady Nyo
Tags: abandoned tires, Adair Park, Atlanta Beltline, City of Atlanta, Fulton Arts Council, garbage, Google it: Atlanta Beltline, tires, tires as art.
Lady Nyo's Weblog 
June 2, 2010 at 1:10 pm
This issue just saddens my heart. Why can’t the Beltline realize that we have worked so hard to make SWATL a better place to live? Now they have created a magnet for more trash. Why????????
LikeLike
June 2, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I want to say because they are stoopid?? No, it’s this disconnect from the actual issues that our neighborhoods and we as residents suffer. It’s that combination of arrogance (and there are class issues involved here, too) and a disregard for what actually is the conditions of each area.
We HAVE worked hard, in many ways, and in different ways. These Beltline folk need to understand that this ‘project’ is offensive….to not only our Capitol View neighborhood, but to Adair Park as well.
Jane…and thanks, Laurel for reading and posting a comment.
LikeLike
June 2, 2010 at 9:48 pm
Perhaps they were inspired by that poem:
“Give me your tires, your poor,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.”
OK, OK, from 2,100 miles away I can laugh, but it is ghastly.
Do they plan to remove this installation after a time?
LikeLike
June 2, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Not Funny, Berowne.
Well, it’s a coin toss on this: The Beltline folk might be lying through their teeth when they say that it will be ‘gone’ in 4 months or so….however, a couple of us got the word that “The City of Atlanta gave money for the installation, but has no money to haul away same installation.”
What is very troublesome to many of us is the time-line: school is out, mosquitoes are breeding, West Nile Virus is sighted in Atlanta, and this installation is a prime breeding ground for that and also unsafe for our children to play around.
AND WHY IN HELL WOULD WE WANT OUR CHILDREN PLAYING AROUND GARBAGE???
We already had our (again) run with polluted streams in Perkerson Park that bleed green and we had to keep our children and dogs out of this mess.
I say that if the Beltline folk like this installation so much…share….they can rotate it on their front lawns until the cows come home.
Who knows…but it IS ghastly.
What were they thinking? They weren’t.
However, there are some marvelous people that have come out swinging against this abomination. Funny enough, all these active people are artists. Well, not funny nor strange. They are the people that aren’t sitting in their bedrooms listening to Neil Young. They were taking on the Beltline fools and they were impressive.
These people will remake the landscape….I am very proud to know them and call them friends.
Lady Nyo
LikeLike
June 3, 2010 at 2:39 am
I think your point about health issues is well taken. Tires are water traps that cannot be emptied without cutting them up, and the installation could become a giant mosquito condo. Probably rodents as well. I’d suggest that whoever wants to take the lead on this contact the city or county health department, report the problem, and enlist them as allies. In public-policy terms, safety trumps art.
LikeLike
June 3, 2010 at 3:00 am
Oh! the installers (the architects I guess, as these men developed this particular installation….) did punch holes in most of the tires. However, that doesn’t do much as water still does collect. But they tried.
But your suggestions about the rodents/mosquitoes/Health department is a good and sound one.
The issue for me and so many others was this: Why would we want a collection of used tires, regardless the intention?
It just boggles the mind. And….they left a lot of tires that weren’t used for the installation on the side of the road. An open invitation to more dumpers to ‘dump here’.
Amazing lack of foresight on the part of the Beltline people.
LikeLike
June 3, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Unsightly. Unaesthetic. But all art appreciation is subjective…
LikeLike
June 3, 2010 at 10:48 pm
As Berowne noted: Ghastly.
Now the Beltline people are calling an ‘on-site’ meeting for Sat. so we can ‘give our ideas how to ‘improve’ this installation.
I am shaking my head. The first sin was using tires: the very garbage our neighborhood has been plagued with. The second one is thinking that we would embrace it.
Jackasses.
My two blog entries of yesterday said it enough…my opinion…and apparently many others here locally…and not.
I’m pulling out because of this whole issue: it can’t be improved….and they are saying they are going to pressure wash this garbage??? Why? so our children can play on it?
Jackasses.
LikeLike
June 5, 2010 at 3:39 am
I’m still curious as to why I haven’t heard any uproar from Adair Park folks. This “art” installation is, after all, in their boundaries. Are they numb to it?
I’m anxious to attend the meeting at the site tomorrow. I’m curious to find out how they intend to resolve this important and controversial issue. This installation certainly affects our health, safety and welfare. Game on!!!
LikeLike
June 5, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Hey Lisa! You raise REALLY GOOD questions!! I don’t know…..perhaps they ARE numb to life over there? Who can tell? But Jeanie Mills, the local historian, who can see this ‘art’ (and now mostly dissembled by the artists…) from her porch… said people were really pissed about it. But obviously, they are not organized in their sentiments.
I think there are many factors going here: I talked to a few residents and they thought it was just a ‘tire dump’….especially after the architects dismantled it.
Plus…..apparently people are taking their own initiative, but it sounds like more individual action: one resident calls by phone Kasim Reed everyday. Good luck with that! My husband shot off an email to Reed…and then expected to hear from him the next day…LOL! I doesn’t work that way in Atlanta, bud!
Perhaps they don’t have the structures that we do in CV and CVM. They don’t have the B Complex, and that is an important galvanizing unit!
A resident over there called and pointed out that after the downpour we had yesterday, there should be water in those tires: and this is of great concern…or should be for those residents. Perhaps we need some of your lovely koi over there to eat the mosquitoes that are sure to be breeding?
See ya there tomorrow morning, Lisa. Husband and I are going to walk to the …ah…installation.
Lady Nyo
LikeLike
June 12, 2010 at 3:19 am
Just as a post script to all of this: I haven’t checked to see if the Beltline people have dismantled this yet…but they probably have started on it….we will see…and we will be on their butts to make sure it does disappear…as promised.
And one thing a local resident said today that makes great sense: this installation in BUCKHEAD, would be edgy, controversial….very different than it’s impact here.
Here? It’s insulting….just more garbage….and something that people here in this area have worked hard to make disappear.
It’s amazing how something can turn upon location.
Lady Nyo
LikeLike
June 15, 2010 at 4:46 am
[…] These pictures tell the story of Art in Atlanta. At least in some communities. « Lady Nyo̵… […]
LikeLike