by Kirby Lindsay, posted 2 August 2013
This fall, construction on the new, improved Fire Station #9 officially ends with the dedication of the building, and Fremont’s newest piece of public art.
Created by Peter Reiquam, the large aluminum sculpture entitled ‘Nine Lives’ has already been installed on the nearly complete station. “As I was building it,” Reiquam recently said about the sculpture and the fire fighters, “some of the guys came to see the process. I’m really excited about giving the piece over to them.”
What’s In A Name
“What I do is big public art projects,” Reiquam explained. From his Georgetown workshop (built from his own design,) he creates his own original art works, like ‘Nine Lives,’ and does fabrication of other’s works. “I don’t have a gallery,” he acknowledged, “I don’t do much studio work. I’m focused on making these permanent, public projects.”
Reiquam’s past works include a 77’ steel fence at Boeing Field entitled ‘Metropolis Fence’ and the ‘Froula Park Armchairs’ in Froula Playground. He also created an interactive art piece installed at Islandwood Education Center. “I titled the piece, ‘A Matter of Balance,” he explained. Shaped like a human person, the art works like a scale that students can use to weigh cafeteria trashto see how much waste they create. On a return visit to Islandwood, he discovered, “They call it ‘Wade’,” as in ‘weighed.’ “I just thought that was so brilliant,” Reiquam admitted, “I wish I’d thought of that!”
“I spend a lot of time thinking about the titles,” he said about his works, “to me, I think the title gives some insight into the artist, and the piece. It gives you a clue into what the artist was thinking.” For the work for the new station, “I was trying to anticipate what the public would call it,” Reiquam said. Through initial design, and beginning fabrication, he called the piece ‘Big Black Cat.’ “I imagine it will become ‘the Fremont Cat,” he acknowledged, like the Fremont Troll and the Fremont Rocket.
The Ever Ready Station
“When I first got this commission,” Reiquam explained, “I went to meet with the fire fighters.” Reiquam has a great respect for the profession, and the people. “I love those guys!,” he said, several times, “I’ve always had an affinity for fire fighters.”
Fire Station #9 proudly displays their logo, their motto and their mascot – the Eveready Cat. “They use the image on everything,” Reiquam noted, and his decision to use the cat may seem an obvious choice, but not an easy one.
First came the image – a trademarked, copyrighted two-dimensional cartoon character central to the image of a more than 100-year-old company, Eveready Battery. Reiquam heard, as most Fremonsters have, the promise ‘we have a letter in our files giving us permission to use the image.’ But he pushed to get a copy of that letter for his own files, and discovered it couldn’t be found. No one can be sure if it ever existed, or just disappeared.
With the support of Office Of Arts & Culture’s Jason Huff and Kelly Pajek, Reiquam persevered – and put together a letter, approved by the Seattle City Attorney’s office, asking the Everready parent company, Energizer, for permission. “I want to do the right thing,” Reiquam explained, “I don’t want to come back and deal with it.” He heard reassurances that, most likely, no one would actually sue the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) about a piece of art, but he chose to ask anyway.
For his trouble, Reiquam got a letter of permission, for his files, to use the image for this three-dimensional art piece. The City of Seattle and SFD got copies as well. “It’s a feather in their cap to be supporting art,” and the fire fighters, he acknowledged about Energizer’s acquiescence, “There is no negative.”
Ready To Pounce
In addition to his work on the copyright, for this commission Reiquam worked, “side-by-side with the architects, before building began.” The building plan always included art, but not necessarily a space in which to install it.
“This site is very packed,” Reiquam acknowledged, “and doing massing models took up all the space on the ground. Working in tandem with the architects,” he found a proactive, creative solution. “I knew it couldn’t be on the ground,” he observed, so he placed the 19’ sculpture on the roof – leaning over it, ready to pounce. “On the building made it look more animated,” he observed, “as if it is about to join its crew on their next life-saving mission. It appears as if it is watching people go up and down the street.” In addition, Reiquam gave Fremont’s cat glass eyes, with LED bulbs, so the sculpture emits a dim yellow glow at night.
“My work tends to be very stylized,” Reiquam said, “but it’s based on some image.” For his public pieces, Reiquam also does extensive research about the site. “I try to find out about the neighborhood, landscape, history, culture, architecture… All of those things play a part in the development.”
“Every piece is completely different,” he said of his work, “every piece is site driven.” This wasn’t his first research into Fremont. In 1990, he submitted a design for another Fremont site, but Reiquam didn’t get the commission. His ‘Home Of Giants’ did get into the final designs voted on at the Fremont Fair. However, the public voted for another design for the site at Aurora Avenue & N 36th Street – the Fremont Troll.
In late September, or early October, the City will host a public dedication of the Station. Reiquam plans to be on-hand to figuratively, and officially, give ‘Nine Lives’ to the live-saving Fire Fighters of #9. And the Fremont Cat will be there, ready to protect our updated, modern facility – or, perhaps, anxious to join the next mission!
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©2013 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.