Many months in the works for myself, and years in the making for some at A3 Visual and The East Cut Community Benefit District; East Cut Electric went live this month as San Francisco’s first permanent projection art installation on the beautiful, brutalist PG&E Embarcadero Substation in The East Cut District.
“Faced with the windowless, monochrome building in their midst, East Cut residents transformed it into the city’s first permanent light installation.” –The San Francisco Standard
This abstract piece, {prism}, embodies the tumultuous journey this area has had throughout history, from its glamorous early days, through its struggles and growth, to its return to prominence. This has been a career highlight and I am so thankful for being given the opportunity to share at this scale! Thanks to all involved and those supportive of this project including the welcoming residents of the East Cut.
The East Cut is SF’s fastest growing and developing new neighborhood. Shedding its homogenized past it stands firm in its own identity, and story. With a history beginning after the gold rush, and steered by the rippling effects of the flattening, or ‘cutting’ of Rincon Hill to allow for easier commerce and transportation, the area became well seasoned in San Francisco’s culture providing home to industry and commerce for some time. Decades later, The East Cut’s diverse history, architecture and stature now are a vital and vibrant part of San Francisco’s culture. In preserving its past, The East Cut retains its roots and lays way for the future.
The Embarcadero Substation, built in 1973 is a brutalist, cast concrete building on Folsom street featuring a stark, dominant stance and exposed aggregate finish. Standing today, this hallmark structure has its own story to tell having served power and light to so many, for so long. {Prism} recognizes two characteristics of The ECD; its role in “connection” and its role as a home to change and growth. The cut, albeit often perceived as a division, was intentful in its purpose to ease connectivity between areas of SF. The physical action impacted not just the geography but set in motion a chain of transformation and growth that spanned decades. Through evolving and interconnected geometries this piece plays on the vertical striations of the substation while staying in a constant state of evolution, growth and change. Periods of calm and sparse contrast with complexity and density in constant, vibrant evolution reflecting the journey of The East Cut itself.
