LED lighting in two panels of the Parallel Perpendicular sculpture are completely burned out, possibly a result from power outages throughout West Hollywood last week. The art installation by artist Phillip K. Smith III has a third panel that isn’t working properly and has a dark shadow over it as of the posting of this piece.
The sculpture located in the Robertson Gardens area of West Hollywood Park, at N. Robertson Boulevard between Santa Monica Boulevard and Melrose Avenue officially made its debut at the beginning of this year. The art installation is comprised of five free-standing mirrored volumes composed of parallel and perpendicular planes that hover over a 40-foot-diameter circle.
Parallel Perpendicular Art Installation facing west – Photo by Paulo Murillo June 26, 2022
Parallel Perpendicular Art Installation facing east- Photo by Paulo Murillo June 26, 2022In 2014, West Hollywood city council approved Phillip K. Smith III as public artist to design, fabricate and install public art work(s) for the West Hollywood Park Master Plan Phase II Project in an amount not to exceed $500,000 including fees and reimbursements, and authorized the City Manager to sign and execute the agreements for services for the artist, and any documents or forms necessary for the successful implementation of this process and approve any minor modifications. It was pproved as part of the Consent Calendar.
In December, 2020, city council approved amendment No. 2 to the Agreement with The Art Office (where Phillip K. Smith III is President and owner) for the installation of public artwork by increasing the not-to-exceed amount of the Agreement of $500,000 by an additional $54,080 for a new not-to-exceed amount of $554,080 to cover cost escalation for artwork fabrication.
According to the City of West Hollywood City Council Demand Register, dated February 12, 2021, invoice number 14-006-04, dated December 29, 2020, was submitted by THE ART OFFICE for the full amount of $54,080.00.
Parallel Perpendicular sculpture is built from a stainless steel internal framework that is wrapped with a custom glass lay-up of 2-way mirror and clear mirror layup with an internal safety lamination. The 18” wide “sides” of each of the elements is composed of regular ¼” mirror with a safety lamination adhered to the backside. LED lighting at the interior of the framework provides an even glow across the various surfaces while simple hardware components control the timing, programming, and power supply for the lighting. The power components will be contained within the framework of each, while the lighting controls can be accessed remotely. All components are weather-proof able to withstand the rain, heat, and cold of West Hollywood. All 5 of the elements “hover” on a 12” diameter brushed stainless steel tube (internally bolted directly to the framework) that provides both structural support and connectivity for wiring.
The Parallel Perpendicular sculpture aims to be a fully interactive piece. During the day, these shapes reflect visitors and the park’s surroundings, as well as views of surrounding West Hollywood. At night, the mirrored surfaces become pure fields of color that move slowly through the color spectrum. These colors reflect each other, merging with the colors, creating new spaces of color, projection and reflection.
The City of West Hollywood has been alerted of the recent problems with the new art installation.
My main concern is vandalism. What is to stop some a-hole from smashing one of these? I’ve seen it happen at several bus stops. These might be more durable, but all one needs is a sledgehammer.
Hi, I talked to some people who are out there today working on the artwork. They said it should be working again by tonight — the people out there working today were from the artist’s studio and since the artwork is still under warranty they came out and are fixing it at no additional cost to the City.
Half a million dollars is criminal with so much homelessness and people commiting crimes to make ends meet. That and It will take five months to fix. I would have done it for $100K a real steal. We can’t have anything nice.
You wrote exactly what I was thinking
I agree also. I’m a Disney artist and I think it is nothing but a bunch of bus stop video ads on their sides. And those work 99% of the time! LED’s don’t go bad for decades. Disney Imagineering or Universal Citywalk could have made that for a fraction of the price. I used to think the sculpture was decent if bland. Now I think it is DISGUSTING. It should be five times the size for that cost!