22 Comments on “Public Art”

1. I realize it was an off-the-cuff comment, but saying that “the entire cost might be $6.38” is like saying that the cost of one of your books is purely the printing costs, ignoring the creativity and labor involved in turning those raw materials (paper and ink, in both cases) into something ‘fun’ (again, in both cases).

2. I have actually seen that display, last time I was in Dayton, and on a side note Dayton airport is my favorite airport in the country, gotten drunk their a few times

3. That’s very cool. I wonder if I can have it when they’re done with it.

4. pjz:

   I suspect you’re thinking about this too hard.

5. Scalzi,
   Does it say who the artist is?

6. pjz: I took John to mean that the cost of materials was perhaps $6.38, though admittedly, he didn’t say that very clearly. And yes, you’re likely thinking about this too hard.

7. Sara:

   The artist is Lisa Nonkin.

8. Hopkins International in Cleveland has some giant ‘paper’ airplane sculptures.

   BTW, Hopkins is a surprisingly not awful little airport. Had a three-hour layover at the end of nightmare trip and I was rather happy. For example, it’s one of those airports where the restaurants don’t overcharge.

9. An uplifting item. Not that I could ever really love the airport experience but things like this make it easier to bear.

10. So THAT’s what the new 787 is made out of?!

11. For some reason, this makes me think of that Hitchcock movie The Birds. Like they’re all circling, getting ready to swoop down on some unsuspecting person with oversized carry-on. I don’t like flying very much. : )

12. I wish I was smart enough to think of that.

13. That bit of artwork – along with one other – was produced in conjunction with the Blue Sky Dayton project (Dayton Daily News article about the installation here). Each of the artworks was created in conjunction with several local youth artists as well.

    Blue Sky Dayton is a pretty keen project; in their own words they “[invite] professional artists from around the world and Dayton-area teens to create new works of contemporary art.”

14. Cisco@2: Dayton airport is my favorite, too, and I don’t even drink.

    I like how easy it is to navigate, and how easy it is to drop people off/pick them up. I also love that they manage to handle luggage in a timely fashion, which starts feeling like a real luxury after you’ve flown through BWI a few times.

    All of which are probably products of its size, but hey, I’m ok with that.

    I also love that the wireless in the business center in unencrypted, so you can surf the web from the terminal (though you have to get to the Whatever through a google image search, because Scalzi went and ran afoul of their net nanny software).

15. Dayton, huh?

    I wonder if Les Nessman is still alive? He was from Dayton, you know, just worked in the Queen City.

    ps. the five time winner of the Buckeye Newshawk award is actually relevant to these newspaper airplanes on more than one level.

    More news, Les Nessman!

16. Well, somebody understands what public art is for. Awesome.

17. Heathrow airport in London had, last time I was there in 1997, big “paper” airplanes actually made of metal, presumably aluminium. Hung from the ceiling along one of the concourses, but I can’t recall which terminal or anything. It would have been one of the International ones; we were going to/from South Africa via Heathrow.

18. What were you doing in Dayton? And how do you have so many commenters who’ve passed through that airport? I’m from Springfield and my parents live outside Dayton, so I have some reason to go there, but I can’t imagine anyone going there voluntarily. (well, the AF museum is pretty cool)

19. You have to see the hamvention, if only once. The other generation of geeks :)

    My ham-radio uncle introduced me a few years ago. It’s a yearly road trip for my electronic geek friends. And from Montreal, Canada, that says a lot about the commitment it takes :)

20. This may be the best thing to actually exist in the Dayton area. Which, lets face it, is not a terribly difficult contest to win.

    I would like to say that the bar is set high on this one, but….

21. Love, love, LOVE this kind of public art.
    To the point, lacking in pretension, with dose of humor.

    Kudos to the artist and whoever thought to put it up at the airport.

    Pittsburgh used to do this sort of thing – I don’t know if they still do. The city, I mean.

22. For the love of god, I thought those turkeys could fly…