A new permanent installation by artists Brian Goggin and Dorka Keehn was unveiled last Sunday in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood.
Language of the Birds consists of “23 illuminated white polycarbonate books suspended in midair with their pages opened as if startled into flight.” Etched in the concrete below, as if they fell from the pages above, are words and phrases from over 90 local authors.
The installation is powered by solar panels that are mounted on top of nearby City Lights bookstore.
The unveiling was accompanied by a performance art piece that included “dancers, a marching band and two nearly naked nymphs wielding long hooks.”
Ed Reiskin, director of the city’s Department of Public Works noted that this was “the first time performance art has been part of public art.”
Article in the San Francisco Chronicle.
More on the installation here