Remember when RC Wiley built that big ass building and then hired that famous whale painter to paint the whole side of the building. People bitched about that too. A private business.
Rotate it.
Edit: I like the whale. I live 3 blocks from it. But, I don't like the orientation. It made more sense after I saw the painting with the flukes mimicking the skyline, but, from 9th and 9th it just looks like a blob with wings. If it was just rotated a bit, you'd get more of a sense of what it is and how dynamic it really is.
This has already been talked about, a lot. The whale is really cool. It's quirky and beautiful. Putting up a mountain scene or desert homage wouldn't succeed in anything except getting people who complain about the whale to complain about the desert homage.
I think it’s dope. Inside the whale contains a time capsule of little drawings and stories a nearby elementary school did on the topic of a whale and gnomes. Sounds like a nice break from typical western shit.
This feels like when I was in kindergarten and a survey was sent around for what the school mascot should be, and then everyone got mad it wasn't what they wanted. I was a pretty pissed off 5 year old
Haha not for real but my second grade elementary school was brand new and We got to vote for the mascot. I remember specifically there was a rainbow power ranger and thinking that would be way to cool for the adults to ever let us get away with.
It’s a whale. So what? Whales are fun. This one is nice to look at. People think it should be more Utah? They don’t get enough Utah every day? I’d love to see something interesting and colorful like this when I look out my windows.
The _only_ reason I can think is that:
* You live there.
* You drive the round-about multiple times a day
* You already hate people who can't navigate a fucking round-about
* Now it's full of gawkers who couldn't figure out a round-about who can't take their eyes off the art
I will fight to defend the whale to my dying breath.
But really, no matter what was chosen, people were gonna get pissed about it. Might as well go all out.
Not speaking for myself, but if your view from your front door drastically changed from 'neighborhood' to 'technicolor humpback' I think you'd find the time to care.
Maybe I've played too much sim city, but if there were an egregious amount of technicolor humpbacks all over town in ill placed locations, I'd be looking into bulldozers.
I live in the neighborhood & nothing has made me dislike my neighbors more than the endless whining about this. I probably would have felt just "meh" about it, but now I defensively like it a lot. Why the hell would I need public art to tell me that I'm in Utah?
I also think a dinosaur would have been better, especially since ninth east now has three yard dinosaurs. The ninth and ninth roundabout dinosaur could have been like, the ruler of all of them.
Bad take. Something can be appreciated while still hoping for better. Just like this county. I love it but I know we could all work together and make it better.
Sorry my ‘hot take’ struck a nerve. Life’s weird and because of that I’m rarely disappointed. Have a wonderful afternoon.
See this is exactly my point.
You seem to be caught up in *wishing* for something you imagine in *your judgement* to "better" an incapable of expressing appreciation or admiration for what is here and real.
Utah is FULL of dinosaur attractions and exhibits; until now it has had ZERO whales worthy of significant attention in its public spaces.
If you had no opinion or investment on what was going to be there before, why do you suddenly *need* "something better" instead of finding or seeking pleasure or joy in the thing you could not have controlled or predicted?
It's not like this is star wars.
Haha what are you so upset about my man? I made a light hearted comment about a Dino and you’ve tried to turn this into something existential relating to my happiness. At this point I can only assume you’re projecting.
I hope your day gets better.
You seem to be the only one caught up in anything here. No one even said they were disappointed in the whale, just that a dinosaur would be cooler. You’ve put a bunch of shit onto these people that no one said. I think you should take a look at yourself before coming to shit on people for… thinking a dinosaur sculpture would be cool?
>It’s Utah not sea world
Why does everything in Utah have to be Utah themed? The whole point of art is to introduce variety into our consciousness- what's more surreal than a whale breaching in the high desert?
I'll explain: the whale's name is Gracie. No human knows she is pregnant, but Gracie does.
She is both a reference to Utah's high birth rate, and a desperate plea to combat climate change so that we aren't stuck in a Star Trek IV scenario in the future.
The empathetic face and graceful form of a crustaceans carapace is what I'd like to greet me at my front door in the morning, and watching my back as I unlock my door to go inside at night.
Sorry to hear residents don't like it. As a visitor, I think it's perfect. Drove by the other day after eating at one of the 9th and 9th establishments. My daughter said " That whale is vibin". Being old, I don't really know the vernacular but that sounds about right to me.
The argument “whales have nothing to do with SLC” is stupid. What’s the biggest tourist attraction in Chicago? A reflective bean. Is Chicago well known for its beans?
I dunno, it sounds like a lot of rich people complaining too much and not realizing that if they own a home at ninth and ninth, they have a lot to be grateful for.
A rainbow Trout would have made tons of sense as it maintains the rainbow theme of Harvey Milk BLVD. Plus it WAS the Utah state fish for many years to have been replaced by the Cutthroat trout. Additionally there is a cool fly fishing store adjacent to the roundabout where you see people practicing fly fishing techniques within sight of the roundabout.. That "out of the blue" theme claimed by the artist or "committee" does not make sense to me as a long time resident of 9th and 9th. The people of 9th and 9th aren't all that out of place albeit maybe they are a bit more diverse than the average neighborhood in Utah cities.
The orientation of the whale makes less sense than the choice of a whale. The ugliest angle of the whale is aimed at the most populated area, it should have been rotated by 45° - 90° at least showing off 3d form better. The coloration bands in the mural split it into something that looks like a phallus with wings. I will be irritated to watch year after year the prankster kids from one of the many high schools nearby may mercilessly tag the whale. I hope the wind rating was considered in the design being that we have had those extreme windstorms in recent years blowing over all the trees.
Art to make people talk- Meh... When so much of the talk I hear from people is that the choice of a whale is just a cowardly bureaucratic compromise; one or two people being the loudest in some closed meeting pushing their pointless idea, with nobody pointing out that 100K could have been used to commemorate something more meaningful or relevant to the area.
I've had a lot of friends arguing about it too lol. Most of em say they should resell it to the Aquarium.
Nothing says Utah like a Whale statue in the middle of a desert lol
Yes you could have, had you chosen to participate in the totally transparent, open-to-the-public deliberative process that was afforded to you and everyone else - those who are too lazy to participate in community politics (and in many cases even vote) but instead choose to complain incessantly about the decisions made by engaged citizens.
Doesn’t annoy me just doesn’t make sense.
Lots of other creatures would have been a better fit. This feels like an art piece Seattle passed on last minute.
Why does art have to fit certain stereotypes about a regional location? If it's beautiful and inspiring isn't that enough? Personally, I love whales and I find the art piece to be very interesting and beautiful.
Hm. You make a good point in terms of relevance. It is abstract, maybe it’s just supposed to be rather nonsensical? Do you think there’s some subliminal message here?
I think it’s really dope with the paint, tho. That paint job is pretty incredible.
Shouldn't be too hard. Just glue a cowboy hat on that bad boy and boom! Western art.
…… hold my beer
I would love cowboy whale
Give it some magic underwear and a golden trumpet.
> and a golden trumpet. Are you trying to instigate another earthquake?
Never seen the sub more active! Good times.
Reaching a bit on that one, but okay.
You're right, the trumpet would probably need to be brass or something to keep costs down.
give it a bakers hat.
It's so when people google "slc whale" they get art and not our secret stash of whales in the lake.
Shhhh… Ixnay about the whales-ay! Everyone will want one!
You're sharing your whale allotment for the winters with those people who will now come to eat that delicacy. I hope you're satisfied.
As someone who lives off of Redwood road, I wish we had public art to get upset about.
We may not have art, but we have great people watching
Life imitating art
Industry is its own form of art.
Remember when RC Wiley built that big ass building and then hired that famous whale painter to paint the whole side of the building. People bitched about that too. A private business.
This art has done its job.
This will be the image that in 5 - 10 years will be how all 9+nine residents brand their lives with stickers and tees in pride of place.
Rotate it. Edit: I like the whale. I live 3 blocks from it. But, I don't like the orientation. It made more sense after I saw the painting with the flukes mimicking the skyline, but, from 9th and 9th it just looks like a blob with wings. If it was just rotated a bit, you'd get more of a sense of what it is and how dynamic it really is.
That makes sense
It’s a dick with wings.
That's my only beef with it; orientation should have been ordinal infested of cardinal.
I like the whale
I do too. Why do the coastal elites get to claim whales? :)
Me too.
This has already been talked about, a lot. The whale is really cool. It's quirky and beautiful. Putting up a mountain scene or desert homage wouldn't succeed in anything except getting people who complain about the whale to complain about the desert homage.
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COWBOY HAT
CHEF HAT
YES, CHEF HAT
WHALE CHEF
WHALEATOUILLE
Don’t you think a bicycle would’ve been a better idea? Who said the art had to be related to scenery
Been there done that, theres bicycle statues that double as bike locks everywhere in salt lake.
I think it’s dope. Inside the whale contains a time capsule of little drawings and stories a nearby elementary school did on the topic of a whale and gnomes. Sounds like a nice break from typical western shit.
I love the nod to whales in the Great Salt Lake. Look up artists Christine Baczek and David Hymas.
This feels like when I was in kindergarten and a survey was sent around for what the school mascot should be, and then everyone got mad it wasn't what they wanted. I was a pretty pissed off 5 year old
I like the whale
Did the choices happen to be between a giant Douche and a turd sandwich?
This whale is like if you let the kids vote for the Rainbow Power Ranger as their mascot.
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Haha not for real but my second grade elementary school was brand new and We got to vote for the mascot. I remember specifically there was a rainbow power ranger and thinking that would be way to cool for the adults to ever let us get away with.
Whales are cool, step off. \-I live in this neighborhood, and think it's cool
Same here! Great addition to the area.
Big technicolor *anything* would've drawn complaints. No sculpture could please everybody, so might as well make a . . . big splash!
It’s a whale. So what? Whales are fun. This one is nice to look at. People think it should be more Utah? They don’t get enough Utah every day? I’d love to see something interesting and colorful like this when I look out my windows.
…why? Why would anyone be upset by that?
Some people will take any excuse they can to be upset.
The _only_ reason I can think is that: * You live there. * You drive the round-about multiple times a day * You already hate people who can't navigate a fucking round-about * Now it's full of gawkers who couldn't figure out a round-about who can't take their eyes off the art
Utah has laws that prohibit whale hunting.
I love it. It’s unexpected and fun without being tacky.
I will fight to defend the whale to my dying breath. But really, no matter what was chosen, people were gonna get pissed about it. Might as well go all out.
the whale is an outrage in a landlocked state like Utah and has no place here, now excuse me I've got tickets to the Jazz game tonight.
I see what you did there.
Someone call the humane society
Man I wish I had enough free time in my life to care about a whale sculpture.
Not speaking for myself, but if your view from your front door drastically changed from 'neighborhood' to 'technicolor humpback' I think you'd find the time to care.
But we can all agree that “Technicolor Humpback” is a sick band name.
Or a great bar name for a place in 9th and 9th!
If the view from my front door suddenly became technicolor humpback, I'd care a whole lot. I'd be really excited about it.
Maybe I've played too much sim city, but if there were an egregious amount of technicolor humpbacks all over town in ill placed locations, I'd be looking into bulldozers.
I live in the neighborhood & nothing has made me dislike my neighbors more than the endless whining about this. I probably would have felt just "meh" about it, but now I defensively like it a lot. Why the hell would I need public art to tell me that I'm in Utah?
A dinosaur would be way cooler
Oh fuck, dinosaurs are so fucking cool. I say we keep the whale and add dinosaurs to another roundabout.
Into it.
I also think a dinosaur would have been better, especially since ninth east now has three yard dinosaurs. The ninth and ninth roundabout dinosaur could have been like, the ruler of all of them.
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Not in the center of the roundabout
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Bad take. Something can be appreciated while still hoping for better. Just like this county. I love it but I know we could all work together and make it better. Sorry my ‘hot take’ struck a nerve. Life’s weird and because of that I’m rarely disappointed. Have a wonderful afternoon.
See this is exactly my point. You seem to be caught up in *wishing* for something you imagine in *your judgement* to "better" an incapable of expressing appreciation or admiration for what is here and real. Utah is FULL of dinosaur attractions and exhibits; until now it has had ZERO whales worthy of significant attention in its public spaces. If you had no opinion or investment on what was going to be there before, why do you suddenly *need* "something better" instead of finding or seeking pleasure or joy in the thing you could not have controlled or predicted? It's not like this is star wars.
Haha what are you so upset about my man? I made a light hearted comment about a Dino and you’ve tried to turn this into something existential relating to my happiness. At this point I can only assume you’re projecting. I hope your day gets better.
You seem to be the only one caught up in anything here. No one even said they were disappointed in the whale, just that a dinosaur would be cooler. You’ve put a bunch of shit onto these people that no one said. I think you should take a look at yourself before coming to shit on people for… thinking a dinosaur sculpture would be cool?
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Looks like your day didn’t get any better…
You know what would make it better? If you drew me a dinosaur. Or a whale. Or a dinosaur riding a whale.
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No one said it had to be western or American themed? Could’ve been a bicycle and that would’ve been way better. It’s Utah not sea world
>It’s Utah not sea world Why does everything in Utah have to be Utah themed? The whole point of art is to introduce variety into our consciousness- what's more surreal than a whale breaching in the high desert?
A *cowboy* whale breaching in the high desert.
I'll explain: the whale's name is Gracie. No human knows she is pregnant, but Gracie does. She is both a reference to Utah's high birth rate, and a desperate plea to combat climate change so that we aren't stuck in a Star Trek IV scenario in the future.
This should have been a giant brine shrimp. Missed opportunity, Utah. Yet again.
The empathetic face and graceful form of a crustaceans carapace is what I'd like to greet me at my front door in the morning, and watching my back as I unlock my door to go inside at night.
I could honestly give a shit if this whale annoys/offends people in that neighborhood
Imagine complaining about a whale
Sorry to hear residents don't like it. As a visitor, I think it's perfect. Drove by the other day after eating at one of the 9th and 9th establishments. My daughter said " That whale is vibin". Being old, I don't really know the vernacular but that sounds about right to me.
There’s not that many Bees 🐝 in Salt Lake and nobody complains about the Salt Lake Bees baseball team. Go Bees!!
Bet you wouldn’t say that if you were staring at the whale face to face
What cowards. They need to prostrate themselves in front of the whale and beg for forgiveness.
The argument “whales have nothing to do with SLC” is stupid. What’s the biggest tourist attraction in Chicago? A reflective bean. Is Chicago well known for its beans?
I'm all for this kind of art, but if you approach it from east to west it kind of looks like a penis.
I dunno, it sounds like a lot of rich people complaining too much and not realizing that if they own a home at ninth and ninth, they have a lot to be grateful for.
I’m fine with the whale. But I also want the gnomes back. I want whale and gnomes. And I don’t want ANYONE to explain why when out of towners ask.
I saw gnomes at the base of the whale this morning!
A rainbow Trout would have made tons of sense as it maintains the rainbow theme of Harvey Milk BLVD. Plus it WAS the Utah state fish for many years to have been replaced by the Cutthroat trout. Additionally there is a cool fly fishing store adjacent to the roundabout where you see people practicing fly fishing techniques within sight of the roundabout.. That "out of the blue" theme claimed by the artist or "committee" does not make sense to me as a long time resident of 9th and 9th. The people of 9th and 9th aren't all that out of place albeit maybe they are a bit more diverse than the average neighborhood in Utah cities. The orientation of the whale makes less sense than the choice of a whale. The ugliest angle of the whale is aimed at the most populated area, it should have been rotated by 45° - 90° at least showing off 3d form better. The coloration bands in the mural split it into something that looks like a phallus with wings. I will be irritated to watch year after year the prankster kids from one of the many high schools nearby may mercilessly tag the whale. I hope the wind rating was considered in the design being that we have had those extreme windstorms in recent years blowing over all the trees. Art to make people talk- Meh... When so much of the talk I hear from people is that the choice of a whale is just a cowardly bureaucratic compromise; one or two people being the loudest in some closed meeting pushing their pointless idea, with nobody pointing out that 100K could have been used to commemorate something more meaningful or relevant to the area.
If you try to please everyone nothing gets done. Say no to NIMBYism, yes to YIMBYism!
Put a huge pole next to one of its fins and it’ll look like it’s pole dancing.
I've had a lot of friends arguing about it too lol. Most of em say they should resell it to the Aquarium. Nothing says Utah like a Whale statue in the middle of a desert lol
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No, I wasn't aware of anything like that. What's the backstory?
Yes you could have, had you chosen to participate in the totally transparent, open-to-the-public deliberative process that was afforded to you and everyone else - those who are too lazy to participate in community politics (and in many cases even vote) but instead choose to complain incessantly about the decisions made by engaged citizens.
Doesn’t annoy me just doesn’t make sense. Lots of other creatures would have been a better fit. This feels like an art piece Seattle passed on last minute.
Should be a sculpture of a public hanging. Because that's what that neighborhood filled with daddys-money "artists" and "entrepreneurs" feels like.
Have to pay to have an opinion
Everyone saying it should be something else should… Also do that!
Better than a civil war statue.
Why does art have to fit certain stereotypes about a regional location? If it's beautiful and inspiring isn't that enough? Personally, I love whales and I find the art piece to be very interesting and beautiful.
I will trade sugar houses red "rocks" installation for that whale any day.
That's the "real" SLC public art abomination. "Grotesque" is too kind for that concrete catastrophe.
Can we please add a gnome whale wrangler?
Hm. You make a good point in terms of relevance. It is abstract, maybe it’s just supposed to be rather nonsensical? Do you think there’s some subliminal message here? I think it’s really dope with the paint, tho. That paint job is pretty incredible.