Future of ‘Digital DNA’ sculpture could head to court
Egg artwork is slated to be removed from Palo Alto plaza, but artists fighting decision
A group of public art enthusiasts are threatening legal action against Palo Alto over its recent decision to remove an eggshaped sculpture from Lytton Plaza.
On Nov. 16, the city’s Public Art Commission voted to remove “Digital DNA,” a 7-foot-tall sculpture by artists Adriana Varella and Nilton Maltz featured prominently in the plaza since its installation in 2005.
The city recommended removal because the work needed to repair the sculpture’s design flaws and its frequent vandalism would cost too much. With regular maintenance, the cost is in the $45,000 range.
City staffers also said deteriorating materials used in the sculpture could be toxic to children who play in the plaza. The sculpture is clad in recycled circuit boards, some of which staffers said contain rare earth materials not fit to be touched by human skin.
“We don’t really know the health concerns related to the context of that exposure,” a staff member said.
Supporters of “Digital DNA,” along with artist Varella, dispute the city’s figures and health concerns. They allege the commission’s real goal was to censor the artwork because it doesn’t like the message.
According to Varella, the sculpture’s message is that modern technology can enslave us and bolster warfare.
“The intent of sculpture was just a reflection of technology,” Varella said. “You can use the computer for spectacle, for war, for destruction … but also for constructive things, like (dealing with) global warming.”
The commission in August approved a “deaccession policy,” which allows it to remove public art and possibly destroy it, as part of its first master plan. At the same meeting, it voted to remove another artwork, “Go Mama” by Marta Thoma, from its California Avenue location. That work, a 6-foottall bronze Mexican doll with the face of a girl in its belly, commissioned in 1999 and also slated for removal because of a continuing need for repairs, did not draw a similar plea for preservation.
Ruth Robertson, a member of the Raging Grannies, read a statement during the meeting from the Friends of Digital DNA in Palo Alto, a group of roughly 150 people who want the artwork to stay and the commission to accept more input from the community in the future. The group has a Facebook page (http://bayareane.ws/DigitalDNA) but is setting up a website with the goal of raising enough money to hire an attorney to either appeal the city’s decision or take it to court, according to one of its members.
“If you want truly to be a public art commission rather than a censorship committee, you must give the citizens of Palo Alto the opportunity to weigh in,” Robertson read from the letter, which was written as if the artwork was speaking. “It is my opinion … that the real reason there is a push to remove me is not my state, but my content, the political message embedded in me, which talks about how our modern technology can enslave us.”
The letter also alleges the commission is against “Digital DNA” because one of its members, Mila Zelka, is an employee of Palantir Technologies, a Palo Altobased company the group says “works with federal agencies like ICE, building data tools for immigration enforcement that look suspiciously like a Muslim registry.
“It is no secret that Palantir is in the business of assisting the government in surveillance of its citizens.”
Varella, who lived in Palo Alto when the sculpture was commissioned but now resides in New York City, just launched an art retrospective at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in her new hometown and has a piece protesting the removal of “Digital DNA” in that show. Vlad Teichberg, a Friends organizer, said the piece has lit a fire under the New York City arts community.
“When the New York art community heard about this, it was like a bomb going off … particularly that this is happening in a place like Palo Alto,” said Teichberg, who also lives in New York City. “To us, the attempt to remove the sculpture is a manifestation of the Trump regime.
“You can’t create an ordinance to get rid of art you don’t like. … What is going on? Is the city just an arm of the corporations?”
Teichberg said once the website is up, organizers plan to start raising money to hire an attorney and possibly restore the artwork.
The city is giving 90 days from the meeting date for the sculpture to find another home or be put up for public auction. If there are no takers, it would be destroyed.
Varella said an employee with Menlo College has offered to temporarily store the sculpture, if necessary, so it is not destroyed. Elise DeMarzo, the city’s public art program director, said “destruction is only the last possible outcome.”
Contact Kevin Kelly at 650-391-1049.