WEST, 2018
Sign: 4′ X 20′ X 1′; Pilings and Sign: 52′ X 150′ X 20′
West, by Brooklyn-based artist Janet Zweig was commissioned by the City of West Sacramento. The hollow letters are four feet tall and one foot deep, with lighting on the inside and five types of metals cladding their exterior. They create the word WEST and sit cantilevered over the river on a thin beam. They turn 90 degrees periodically. 250 steel bands cover the many old pilings surrounding the pier to show the always-changing height of the river.
The City of West Sacramento is often misunderstood to be part of the City of Sacramento. This artwork makes West Sacramento the center and the subject. It turns WEST toward West Sacramento while showing its back across the river. However, in a welcoming gesture, it then periodically turns 90 degrees and shows its name forwards to downtown Sacramento.
The work is about orientation in a second way. 250 glittering numbered steel bands on the pilings surrounding the pier orient the viewer to the ebb and flow of the river: daily, yearly, and in relation to drought vs. rainfall. They are numbered with the river height and are parallel to the river’s surface through the magic of compound curves.
Engineer: Jason Horwedel, Buehler and Buehler
Fabrication and installation: Thomas Swan Sign Company, Inc.
Band installation and structure fabrication: Nick Tiukaeno, TPA Construction
Project manager for the artist: Shelly Willis
Project managers for the City: Katy Jacobson and Jeramy Chapeldaine
Studio assistants: Cristobal Cea, Kyle Hittmeier, Tamara Johnson
