Adam Kuby Explores The Needle and the Damage Undone
Installation of a giant needle in the Portland Acupuncture Project continues Saturday. The needle will be installed on Swan Island. Two weeks ago, the needles were set up at Waterfront Park, Kelley Point Park and Mount Tabor Reservoi
The Acupuncture Project will be large in scale. In Portland, it means placing the giant needles in the ground.
Curing what ails Portland is the vision of artist Adam Kuby, who plans to install 35-foot needles throughout the city this spring after several years of planning.
The needles will be strategically placed around the city -- in places where, Kuby said, the city's energy is "blocked, deficient or overactive." The needles will go in sites that are "congested or neglected –– as well as those which are full of vitality, serenity and beauty."
Approaching the city as "one integrated physical, energetic and spiritual body," Kuby said the installation could do a lot of good in Portland.
Can it cure the effects of a down economy? Probably not. "That's a tall order for anything let alone art," Kuby said in an exclusive interview with Architectural Daily. "But I'm hoping these eye-catching, and hopefully dazzling, metallic sculptures will have an upbeat effect that –– in addition to pointing out problems –– highlights efforts by the city, civic organizations and individuals to make the city healthier.
"Also," he said, "maybe the project will cause a few errant smiles and bolster Portland's out-of-the-box reputation."
The project leaders have raised $25,000 from the Regional Arts and Culture Council, the Oregon Arts Commission and the Northwest Health Foundation, but we need to raise an additional $15,000 by March 31 to bring the project to fruition city-wide.
Kuby came up with the idea in 2008 and brainstormed the project with help from acupuncturists, city planners, ecologists, artists, writers and the general public at the South Waterfront Guest Artist Residency Program.
The project was also developed with input from the Department of Planning & Sustainability and Metro. It will be a six-month long installation.
Kuby said the project will bring attention to some of the city's most challenging problems, greatest assets and places of enormous potential; create visual links to the the Portland Plan, the city's 25 year strategic planning effort happening now; help people connect their own individual bodies and individual health to the health of their city; spotlight the acupuncture profession, and offer acupuncture demonstrations and treatments at various sculpture sites during the installation.
A lot has changed in Portland, in terms of the local economy, but Kuby said the city's spirit has not changed.
"Most of the issues I honed in on two years ago are still the same because they're long-term concerns such as water quality, affordability, transportation, etc.," he said. " What has changed and evolved are the specific locations, as I find out more about specific projects and initiatives that I'm hoping to bring attention to. Also now that we're in the actual permitting stage I need to keep all the sculptures on city property––for my own sanity and the project's public art manager.
"We're placing a needle along the Willamette downtown and calling that point 'Swimmable River,'" he said. "Acupuncture points on the human body all have beautifully poetic ancient Chinese names, so I wanted to do the same. I named this point after hearing that in a recent survey by VisionPDX, people want the Willamette to be clean enough to swim in again. Another point I'm excited about is called "Streetcar Desire" which will be located on the east side at a spot along one of the proposed future routes. I'm hoping this needle will seem like it's calling or beckoning the streetcar line outward from downtown."