A potential artwork design for an upcoming bridge in San Francisco that has been inspired by felines might make some people hesitant to visit the city. The artwork is one of three finalists that are vying for the spot on a bridge that will be constructed in the near future. The official name of the structure will the Howard Street Bridge.
The proposed artwork would feature statues of mutant felines with eyes that shine in the dark. The statues would be displayed on the side of a new Howard Street Bridge, appropriately giving the structure the nickname of “Catbridge”.
The Catbridge design was created by Los Angeles sculptor Peter Shelton. If the design is chosen as the winner, the art will be displayed on a downtown overpass that is being constructed as part of an expansion on the convention center. According to Shelton, he was inspired by the two-faced Roman God of Janus and photographs of cats taken at night.
Shelton said of his design, “For the Howard Street Bridge, I propose to render five to six pedestal mounted cast bronze sculptures based on the abstracted forms of cats. The cat is the consummately adapted urban animal that is as much a part of the day scape and as of the night.
I envision these cat forms on pedestals roughly two feet in diameter. The eyes of these cats would light up at night in keeping with the concept of the multi-facing Janus figures of antiquity. These cats would have at least two faces and two sets of eyes facing in both directions of the bridge.
The glowing eyes of the cats would lead us up and over the otherwise darkened bridge. It is important that the experience of the sculptural installation is as credible and poetic during the day as it is at night.”
Whether or not Shelton’s design will be selected as the winner remains to be seen, but it would pretty amusing to see the reactions of real-life cats when they come into contact with their mutant counterparts.
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