Urban Light (2008) is a collection of 202 cast iron street lamps from the 1920s — salvaged and restored. This work, shown here, was conceived by artist Chris Burden (1946-2015). Streetlamps are an important urban artifact, and these richly detailed, fluted lamps speak to what it meant to be a sophisticated and civilized city at that time. These streetlamps were products of an industrial process that some consider a form of public art. However, these lamps were not merely made to be beautiful but also to keep people safe at night. By clustering the lamps together Burden creates a cathedral with long colonnades that visitors are allowed to meander through. Grouping so many together allows one to disregard their original purpose, and see them as a single “urban light.”
When I first saw images of the work I rather quickly determined I did not care for it. I am not nostalgic,
and I certainly don’t have romantic notions about this era of our history — one marked by inequality, corruption and flaunting excesses. However, after experiencing this work firsthand it grew on me. Walking between and around the lamps proved to be a powerful experience. The flutes kept directing my gaze upward, where the details of the lamps were perfectly highlighted against the blue Southern California sky. I couldn’t stop thinking about where these lamps would be if they had not been gathered and repurposed for this work of art. This magical installation is part historic preservation — an ingenious streetlamp graveyard that directs your attention to the heavens. It reminds me of a saying I threw around as a young designer to salvage an ill-conceived composition: “If you make something ugly … just repeat it several times.” It always looks better.