The first of four major art projects for the new single terminal airport at KCI have been revealed.
More than 1,000 artists from around the world submitted inquiries after Kansas City announced an international search for artists.
The city said the four works of art were chosen because they either reflected the wonder of travel or Kansas City history.
The budget for artwork at KCI’s new terminal is $5.65 million. Kansas City’s single-terminal airport is expected to open on budget and on time in early 2023.
“The fact that we’ve been through a pandemic over the last year and yet this project remains on time, on schedule, and on budget is a testament to the good work of the team,” said Justin Meyer with the KC Aviation Department.
You can see the renderings of the art projects in the gallery below.
Entitled "Molten Swing"
Entitled "The Air up There"
Entitled "Ornithology"
Entitled "Fountain of Resonance"
"Molten Swing" looks kind of like a mosaic dog or cat to me, it might look cool though but not sure what to make of it at this point.
"The Air up There" simply looks like some lights on the ceiling, again it might look better when you're actually there I hope.
"Ornithology" reminds me of those attacking creatures in the Pitch Black movie. You just knew one of the artwork they chose would have a WTF moment and this is it.
"Fountain of Resonance" I approve of this one. :-)
The four pieces of artwork on Bartle hall is atrocious, I don't think anyone in KC pays much attention to them actually. I remember many people didn't like them and the city saying they could be replaced with something else over the years.
Molten swing and ornithology are references to Charlie Parker tunes, pretty cool. As someone who has tried to play his music and understand his contribution to music, I got to say I'm pretty pleased. Sounds like somebody gets it. [Reply]
Correction molten swing is reference to Benny Motens' moten swing, my bad. Great tune. Fun fact, Bennie Motens' grave was forgotten until a friend of mine found it, without a proper headstone. He brought it to my attention and I pointed him towards the coda jazz fund who paid for a headstone. [Reply]
Originally Posted by gblowfish:
Art is an important element of a functioning society. Artists are crucial to imagination and inspiration. Money well spent
Also, I do agree with this.
People don't realize how often their extra tax dollars are spent on beautifying spaces and they don't even realize it. They look at any local public works project and admire having the space or the building or whatever it is, but never want to hear about the "art" price tag that went into that area.
Let's say KCI cut the costs down and didn't put anything up at all to save the $5.3 million. People would bitch. Okay, so what if they just put something up in its place but nothing artsy fartsy and weird? Like... what?
A banner from Party City? People will bitch about how shitty it looks.
A sign that says "Welcome to KCI" or something like that? Unless you put $$$ into the materials and make it look nice, people will still bitch.
How about one of those cost-efficient murals of blown up black-and-white photographs of the Kansas City area? Or panoramic images of the city across the wall? One of those is a lot more expensive than you think, and is actually bordering on the pricetag it would cost for one of those art projects.
How about a good ol' fountain instead of a shitty artist rendering of a fountain? Uh-huh. And fountains aren't expensive at all!
It's one thing if you never wanted a new airport in the first place. But that's not what happened. The new airport is here, and if you're going to dip in and build the damn thing, you need to make it a great fucking airport. Otherwise, what's the point? [Reply]
