In our “What It Takes” blog series, we talk about how public art is made: by the numbers — totaling up every unusual material used from concrete to fabric — and by whom. This entry looks at the many visions and hands that have shaped Central Wharf Park.
Before a space fills with art, what does it look like?
In the case of Central Wharf Park, it looked a whole lot like a parking lot.
Long ago a repository for school buses making Aquarium field trips, this tree-lined oasis is home once again to our newest project. Jose Dávila’s To Each Era Its Art. To Art, Its Freedom, guest curated for the space by Pedro Alonzo, is open through Spring 2021.
Even if you only stop for the Instagram, the Reed Hildebrand-designed park, Jose’s work, and Pedro’s curation blend to create a space that’s difficult to only pass through. Nestled amidst one of Boston’s busiest commercial districts, Central Wharf Park now incites its own type of dynamism, fueled more by spirited curiosity than rush hour.
““I wanted to develop a project that would create certain pockets that would make people stop, rather than just a place to walk through.” ”
Photo by Dominic Chavez
To Each Era is Jose’s first public artwork for Boston, but his art has always forged connections across the natural and the man-made, the permanent and the ephemeral, and the contemporary and historical. The work’s title is actually an art-historical adage, “Der Zeit ihre Kunst. Der Kunst ihre Freiheit,” translated into English.
This was the motto of the Vienna Secession movement, a group of artistic renegades who were fed up with the elitist conservatism pervading the Austro-Hungarian empire at the turn of the 20th century. Led by Gustav Klimt, the group solidified their dissent by building the world’s first-known permanent exhibition space dedicated to contemporary art. The movement fractured quickly under the pressures of industrialization and commercialism that it initially sought to eschew; but the phrase remains carved into the stone facade of the Secession building in Vienna.
Photo by Dominic Chavez
In a nod to these tensions between art’s transience and legacy, To Each Era melds the looks of Modernism and the materials of Arte Povera with ease. The result is a work that is deeply referential yet easily untethered from its art-historical references.
Jose’s arrangement of 26 custom-made concrete structures instantly recalls park benches, Tetris blocks, or even, when seen from above, music notes. Real river boulders, hand-selected by the artist, appear to balance off the structures’ edges in semi-midair, almost as if pushed by a Looney Toon. Says the artist: “The rocks to me, they present an element of surprise, by placing it in a place that it seems it’s just about going to fall. So it’s a moment of suspension.”
And yes: the cartoon comparison may seem like a stretch given the work’s sleek, minimalist appearance. But To Each Era viscerally draws us in, offers us a chance to play freely, and leaves us with a child-like sense of contentment and wonder.
““I picked up Jose at the airport, and when we first arrived to see the piece, there was a group of girls. Teenage girls. Sitting on several of the blocks, hanging out, basically. And Jose said: ‘This is fantastic. This is — it works. This artwork works.’ I said, ‘Why do you say that?’ and he said, ‘Because when young people gravitate to it, and understand it, and engage it, you know, kids are very authentic. They only gravitate to things that they believe in. That they feel comfortable with, excited about.’ So, he said, ‘this is a sign of success.’” ”
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi
Jose may be leaving us with the same feeling he himself experienced after spending time in Guadelajara’s “Parque Rojo” (or, “Red Park”), as a kid. To Each Era marks the artist’s first time ever using color in his concrete sculptures, drawing inspiration and pigmentation from his local childhood playground. Which, it just so happens, was designed by legendary architect, Luis Barragán.
Jose — perhaps because of what public art inspired in him from an early age — is also a formally trained architect, a fact that’s prominently on display in To Each Era. The art works in concert with a space that has already fostered a sense of relief amidst several working piers, a traffic-filled thoroughfare, banner New England attractions, and a massive parking garage.
““You know, the best part of doing work in my hometown is that I can really share it with my family and friends, to come to the site and just hang out.” ”
When the designers at Reed Hilderbrand, in collaboration with the firm Chan Krieger/NBBJ, first approached the parking lot that would become Central Wharf Park; they encountered some problems: a “spaghetti” (their word) of mysterious utility lines below, a surrounding mess of construction, and a lack of greenery above. Reed Hilderbrand Principal Eric Kramer says his team wanted to build a distinct identity for the park while also eliminating all the obstacles that might deter us from using the space. It’s clear that Eric, Pedro, and Jose value design choices that center the user’s experience and vision of publicness.
““What I love about this project is it’s super interactive, and yet it’s not designed to be play equipment. [Jose] knew this was going to happen, he knew people would engage with it in this way, but he’s not telling people what to do. Just like we’re not telling people how to use the park. People start to live in a space the way they want.” ”
If you feel uplifted as you move through Central Wharf Park, that’s no accident. The park’s pavement tilts upwards as you walk away from the road and toward the harbor, and Jose’s concrete forms begin to spread out in tandem, annotating the emerging ocean view with bright red paint.
““I think it’s a representation of the life we would like to have. Again, human interaction is what actually keeps us alive.” ”
A direct response to its environment, To Each Era allows us to pause a city’s timeline, enhance its landscape, and exist simply within a singular, shared moment. Whether you sit on it, jump off it, or play through it is up to you.
Photo by Faith Ninivaggi