Seattle bike riders may seem like they're riding with their heads in the clouds sometimes, but on either side of the Chief Sealth Trail in Beacon Hill tower two bike riders literally riding through the clouds.
The two new sculptures are the work of Seattle artist Dan Webb. Standing where the trail crosses Beacon Avenue South and South Dawson Street, the two riders wear gold-leaf wings on their backs as they rise from the clouds. A blue woman is on a commuter bike. The pink man is on a mountain bike. And at the base of each column is the symbol of the Duwamish People.
It looks from these pictures that the cyclists might be get electrocuted in the wires. But it's apparently not meant to symbolize the hazards of biking on our city's streets. We're not sure if he's talking about the exhaust for the buses when Webb says through the city's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs that the riders" ride among the clouds, as all do who ride in Seattle."
The Duwamish reference is more straightforward. "As we ride these paths, we remember them, the first and future riders of these hills," Webb said.
· Two new artworks mark Chief Sealth Trail [Art Beat Seattle]
—Kery Murakami