Side Note

These beautiful sculptures were too strange to last

The Mudflats Sculptures were an early victim of Bay Area development

Before the Bay Area became overran by tech companies, there existed a public artspace in the town of Emeryville, located near Berkeley and Oakland. People would come to an undeveloped mudflat area and make sculptures, and so everyone them the Mudflats Sculptures. The photos in this post were taken by Robert Sommer, an environmental psychologist and UC Davis professor, who frequented the mudflats to document the odd and affecting art there. The sculptures have since been taken down, but Sommer’s photos remain.

A suspended outhouse with “REAGAN’S TRICKLE DOWN THEORY” written on it.

A suspended outhouse with “REAGAN’S TRICKLE DOWN THEORY” written on it.

Tombstone: “RIP Liberty and Justice for All”

Tombstone: “RIP Liberty and Justice for All”