Falling from the Sky

Walking to the Sky

We all know it and walk past it every day. I've written papers about it and read into the skin-deep meaning behind it, but it still irks me. I've never liked the message that I personally receive from Walking to the Sky: blind ambition leading us all in a line off to who-knows-where, persistence in mindless direction at the cost of leaving others behind. At least the temporary issue (a result of taking half the statues off last year, leaving a gradient of skin tones lightening as altitude increased) has been resolved. Still, I've always hated it. It doesn't represent finding happiness or doing what you love, but rather chasing after some invisible, intangible target of success (and walking off a plank in the process).

But what happens when you get to the top?

Context

I knew that I wanted to do something involved with Walking to the Sky, but I knew that I probably didn't want to get arrested for vandalism in the process. I started doing research into forms of non-destructive modification of public art and came across a sport called projection bombing, taking public art and super-imposing images or text to create additional meaning without leaving a physical mark.

I had a projector lying around, so I thought of how I could add to Walking to the Sky to show how I felt about it.

Process

I grabbed my laptop, my projector, and my backup battery supply and headed to the University Center third floor (there isn't power close enough to plug in).

There, I set up shop, cracking a window open and hanging my projector off a small ledge at a steep angle as to hit the ground just below the installation. Then, I loaded up a quick silhouette I had made and put it into position. I grabbed my drone and took some pictures of it from the air.

Result

(Bonus shot of the Oakland area above.)

Critique

 I personally liked how it turned out, with my goal being to show some real possible consequences of blind ambition. My projector definitely wasn't as bright as I wanted it to be, but I feel like it was still very noticeable. While I was there watching people go by, many stopped and looked at what I was doing, some connecting it to Walking to the Sky and others just stopping to snap a picture of the apparent crime scene. Overall, I think it went fairly well.

Reflection

If I had to do this again, I'd probably include some more indicators that my projection is meant to be an extension of Walking to the Sky. For a student who walks past the installation every day, noticing the silhouette of a person beneath the pole may not immediately connect to the piece itself. I would also probably have the person be holding a briefcase or include some small bit of text to provide context. Overall, though, it was a ton of fun.