On the Road - photography

[Morrigoon]

I'm surprised we haven't seen artists pick up on the potential of these structures by designing ones that are, well, pieces of art. I mean, talk about a visible sculpture!

[Alex]

I'm sure you can find many examples of individual power structures that have been designed to something less utilitarian, but I think the driving factor in their look is the fact that you need several of them per mile of line.

The Pacific Intertie transmission line connects Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River in Washington to Los Angeles. That one high capacity line is more about 900 miles long. Meaning that several thousand towers are needed. So, I imagine that fincancial considerations quickly reduce all design considerations to:

1. What design requires the fewest materials.
2. What design requires the least work to construct.

Personally, I find them to be elegant statements of functional design, and even within that there are interesting variations. They're only rendered boring by their ceaseless repetition. But that complaint is somewhat like saying they should do something to make railroad ties more visually powerful.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

I'm surprised we haven't seen artists pick up on the potential of these structures by designing ones that are, well, pieces of art. I mean, talk about a visible sculpture!

I've always dug them as is but this idea has come to my mind as well. Lately, I've been thinking more about the newer phenomenon of cell towers. Now THERE is a way artists could beautify the landscape in a utilitarian way. Instead, we have those awful fake trees that not only look horrible when new, but fade within a year to even worse states of ugliness. They don't need to be expensive sculptures, just eye-pleasing ones. I'm almost irked enough to start a movement...