Columbus officials are preparing to move the Bryony Roberts’ “Soft Civic” Exhibit Columbus installation from the City Hall Plaza and lawn for a very holiday reason — a Christmas tree.
As is tradition, the city’s Department of Public Works is busy finalizing the selection of a Christmas tree donated by a local family that is normally placed in the center of the city hall plaza in front of the entry doors, which would place it right in the middle of “Soft Civic.”
Instead, “Soft Civic” will be dismantled next week and moved to the Columbus Municipal Airport, where Airport Director Bryan Payne said it will be placed in front of the airport terminal building to make room for the city’s Christmas tree.
“This came to us relatively quickly,” Payne said of the planned move of the exhibit. “I had said that if there was ever a reason that one of the art pieces didn’t have a home, we would like to have it to create a new destination for the Columbus AirPark.”
Payne said Columbus Department of Public Works employees and airport employees will work together with Exhibit Columbus officials and the Roberts on Wednesday, weather permitting, to partially dismantle “Soft Civic” before moving it to the airport by truck.
“Soft Civic,” which is constructed of painted steel and custom-died nylon rope, was created to respond “to both the architectural geometry of City Hall and its symbolic role as the center of civic leadership in the community,” according to Exhibit Columbus.
“Created in collaboration with a textile workshop in Brooklyn, the weaving represents a collective effort of repetitive knotting and echoes the installation’s programming, which fosters collective participation in making local democracy,” Exhibit Columbus said of “Soft Civic.”
The installation is described by Exhibit Columbus as custom-fabricated structures with colorful woven surfaces activating the public spaces around city hall’s main entrance as destinations for play, performance, and participation.
Since its opening in August, “Soft Civic” has already served as a background for a variety of music, lecture and dance performances in downtown Columbus.
Exhibit Columbus installations are scheduled to continue until Dec. 1.
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Exhibit Columbus is an exploration of architecture, art, design that features a symposium and temporary installations that are inspired by the city’s heritage and “the role that a visionary community plays in growing a vibrant, sustainable and equitable city.”
The high school installation joins five featured Miller Prize Installations, five Washington Street Installations, six University Design Research Fellowships and a wayfinding and graphic design system by Thirst for a total of 18 temporary installations that will be open to the public until Dec. 1 around Columbus.
Visit exhibitcolumbus.org for more information.
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