Last month, Mayor Gavin Newsom joined the Black Rock Arts Foundation (BRAF) and the Port of San Francisco to celebrate the unveiling of Raygun Gothic Rocketship, a 40-foot-tall sculpture created by a team of Bay Area artists lead by Sean Orlando, Nathaniel Taylor and David Shulman.
The Raygun Gothic Rocketship will remain at the Pier 14 Tidal Plaza, at the base of Mission Street, on the Embarcadero for a 14-month temporary exhibition. Photo by Renée Dunn Martin
The 40-foot-tall artwork offers a retro-futuristic, highly-stylized vision of space travel circa 1930s-1940s science fiction and is the latest in a series of temporary public art exhibitions sponsored by BRAF to enliven and activate public spaces. The sculpture will be accompanied by a companion piece, the Rocket Stop designed by Alan Rorie, which tells the story of the Rocketship’s exploits, providing route, schedule and other information. The installation will be illuminated for nighttime viewing.
“We are very proud to have the work of local artists of this caliber represented along San Francisco’s iconic waterfront,” said Mayor Gavin Newsom. “Sean, Nathaniel and David’s Raygun Gothic Rocketship is an important piece of our City’s strong temporary public art program that adds an important vibrancy and a vitality to our public spaces.”
“We at the Port are charged with creating opportunities for residents and visitors alike to connect with San Francisco’s spectacular waterfront,” said Port Executive Director Monique Moyer. “As the third in a series of large-scale sculptures to be installed temporarily at Pier 14, we are confident that this compelling piece will engage people and enhance their experience of the area. Pier 14 provides a fitting and fantastic backdrop for this whimsical work of art.”
More than 70 artists and makers participated in the creation of Raygun Gothic Rocketship, including members of Five Ton Crane, a collective of Bay Area artists and inventors. “It’s remarkable what creative heights people can reach when they work together,” said lead artist Sean Orlando. “The whole idea behind Five Ton Crane is that artists working in concert can accomplish so much more than any one person could working alone. The Raygun Gothic Rocketship project is a perfect example of that idea in action.”
“I believe the Raygun Gothic Rocketship team uniquely captured the emotion and wonderment each kid has felt with space travel at some time in their childhood,” said Joel Walker, Director, Center Operations, NASA Johnson Space Center, “I applaud the team for tapping that emotion in a unique and creative way. I believe it has the potential to make a personal and significant impact to all who encounter it.”
The temporary exhibition of the artwork is made possible through funding provided by the Black Rock Arts Foundation, aided by a $15,000 grant from the Port of San Francisco. Significant contributions and key services have been contributed by: Degenkolb Engineers, Leslie Pritchett Public Art Consulting, Paul and April Buchheit, Loren and Rachel Carpenter, Freddy and Helvetica Hahne, Rock Paper Scissors Foundation, and the Edwards Family Fund. To find out more about this project visit www.blackrockarts.org/projects/raygun-gothic-rocket.
During Mayor Newsom’s tenure, there have been more than 20 temporary public art exhibits around various neighborhoods of San Francisco—including the Arts in the Storefronts exhibits; Zhang Huan’s Three Heads Six Arms, currently on display in Civic Center Plaza; and several highly successful projects undertaken in concert with the Black Rock Arts Foundation, such as The David Best Hayes Green Temple Project and the award-winning Panhandle Bandshell Project.
