OT - Canadian Artist Plans To Float Giant Banana Over Texas
Tue Jan 09, 2007 6:16 am
Could beat flying a warbird 
Canadian Artist Plans To Float Giant Banana Over Texas
Yes, You Read The Headline Correctly
A spokesman for the FAA says the agency has a few questions regarding a Canadian artist's plan to send a 1,000-foot-long, helium-filled banana into the skies over Texas. They're probably not the only ones.
"I want to bring some humor to the Texas sky," Montreal artist Cesar Saez explained in a story published Sunday in the San Antonio Express-News. "This will be the largest airship ever built, and it's going to stay in the sky longer than any balloon ever did, using 19th-century technology."
Saez plans to launch his mammoth bamboo and paper dirigible -- dubbed, appropriately enough, the Geostationary Banana Over Texas project -- from a site in Mexico in summer 2008. The plan calls for the flying banana to ride the jet stream as it heads east, at altitudes as high as 20 miles above Earth (meaning those on the ground would still be able to see it). The balloon would eventually disintegrate.
And yes, he IS serious. Moreover, he's already raised about a fifth of the estimated $1 million cost for the project, from such organizations as the Canada Council for the Arts.
"There's no question this is a serious artistic project," said CCA spokeswoman Donna Balkan. "It's a work of public art, but what makes this project unusual is that he's using the sky as his venue rather than a park or street corner."
The organization kicked in $15,000, according to the Express-News. Michigan-based nearSpace Technology is consulting on the high-flying project.
Saez, who is well-known in Quebec for his public works, compares the stratospheric altitudes his balloon would float across to the high seas -- open to free, unregulated exploration. But to the FAA, it's Class E airspace.
Just how the agency would handle a flying banana, though, is open to debate.
"My first reaction is, are you being taken for a ride? I had some trouble with my folks in Washington, they didn't believe it," said FAA Southwest Regional Spokesman Roland Herwig.
"You can't just put an object over the United States without checking with agencies and organizations," Herwig added. "They'd have to coordinate with the US Space Command and others, anyone from homeland security to the FAA, for something that goes to those altitudes."
A spokesman for Texas Governor Rick Perry says the guv is taking the proposed use of airspace over his state in good humor.
"If it works, people will probably go ape over it," the spokesperson stated. "We have to be careful, though, because putting bananas in orbit could create a slippery situation."
FMI: www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com
Canadian Artist Plans To Float Giant Banana Over Texas
Yes, You Read The Headline Correctly
A spokesman for the FAA says the agency has a few questions regarding a Canadian artist's plan to send a 1,000-foot-long, helium-filled banana into the skies over Texas. They're probably not the only ones.
"I want to bring some humor to the Texas sky," Montreal artist Cesar Saez explained in a story published Sunday in the San Antonio Express-News. "This will be the largest airship ever built, and it's going to stay in the sky longer than any balloon ever did, using 19th-century technology."
Saez plans to launch his mammoth bamboo and paper dirigible -- dubbed, appropriately enough, the Geostationary Banana Over Texas project -- from a site in Mexico in summer 2008. The plan calls for the flying banana to ride the jet stream as it heads east, at altitudes as high as 20 miles above Earth (meaning those on the ground would still be able to see it). The balloon would eventually disintegrate.
And yes, he IS serious. Moreover, he's already raised about a fifth of the estimated $1 million cost for the project, from such organizations as the Canada Council for the Arts.
"There's no question this is a serious artistic project," said CCA spokeswoman Donna Balkan. "It's a work of public art, but what makes this project unusual is that he's using the sky as his venue rather than a park or street corner."
The organization kicked in $15,000, according to the Express-News. Michigan-based nearSpace Technology is consulting on the high-flying project.
Saez, who is well-known in Quebec for his public works, compares the stratospheric altitudes his balloon would float across to the high seas -- open to free, unregulated exploration. But to the FAA, it's Class E airspace.
Just how the agency would handle a flying banana, though, is open to debate.
"My first reaction is, are you being taken for a ride? I had some trouble with my folks in Washington, they didn't believe it," said FAA Southwest Regional Spokesman Roland Herwig.
"You can't just put an object over the United States without checking with agencies and organizations," Herwig added. "They'd have to coordinate with the US Space Command and others, anyone from homeland security to the FAA, for something that goes to those altitudes."
A spokesman for Texas Governor Rick Perry says the guv is taking the proposed use of airspace over his state in good humor.
"If it works, people will probably go ape over it," the spokesperson stated. "We have to be careful, though, because putting bananas in orbit could create a slippery situation."
FMI: www.geostationarybananaovertexas.com
Tue Jan 09, 2007 8:46 am
Maybe we could do a WW1 Balloon Busting reenactment... 
I don't know what I think of that, but not very much for sure. Kind of like the "torch" of friendship that some "friend" south of the border sent us here in SA as well. 
Why can't we have some better art than that? I'm fairly certain that someone could've come up with a better use of that space.
Ryan
I don't know what I think of that, but not very much for sure. Kind of like the "torch" of friendship that some "friend" south of the border sent us here in SA as well.
Why can't we have some better art than that? I'm fairly certain that someone could've come up with a better use of that space.
Ryan
Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:01 pm
A 1000' flying banana 
Sorry, but some people have WAAYY too much idle time. And the folks who are contributing to this asininity have a skewed vision of art.
Mudge the busy
Sorry, but some people have WAAYY too much idle time. And the folks who are contributing to this asininity have a skewed vision of art.
Mudge the busy
Tue Jan 09, 2007 12:39 pm
RyanShort1 wrote:Maybe we could do a WW1 Balloon Busting reenactment...
Why can't we have some better art than that? I'm fairly certain that someone could've come up with a better use of that space.
Ryan
Gumby!!!!!!
Re: OT - Canadian Artist Plans To Float Giant Banana Over Te
Tue Jan 09, 2007 1:13 pm
Is this a taxpayer funded organization?sabredriver wrote:Moreover, he's already raised about a fifth of the estimated $1 million cost for the project, from such organizations as the Canada Council for the Arts.
Tue Jan 09, 2007 2:43 pm
RyanShort1 wrote:Maybe we could do a WW1 Balloon Busting reenactment...
Why can't we have some better art than that? I'm fairly certain that someone could've come up with a better use of that space.
Ryan
Eh, it's unique. 150+ years ago the French were all fired up about the ugly iron monstrosity being erected in their city.
What I want to know is what jack-hole has the bright idea of putting statues, pretty wildflower gardens, or clock towers IN THE FREAKING MIDDLE OF A FREAKING ROUNDABOUT!!?!?!?! What shortbus riding, hockey helmet wearing numbskull said to himself "You know what an awkward intersection needs? Another blind spot!"
No, really, I'd much rather ponder the artists' meaning behind that sculpture that look for the soccer-mom on her cell phone who's about to broadside me in a Cadillac Denali because she can't grasp the concept of staying in just one lane....
(can you tell my drive in to work this morning sucked?)
Tue Jan 09, 2007 2:48 pm
You have a roundabout in Mishawaka? And they actually call it a roundabout not a traffic circle?
Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:33 pm
bdk wrote:You have a roundabout in Mishawaka? And they actually call it a roundabout not a traffic circle?
There are several around Notre Dame's campus and the South Bend area, and more coming. They're a great idea in principle, keep traffic moving and all that, but around here they're poorly implimented. Basically there's a half-bunker in the center. This sticks up 3-ish feet and has very pretty stone work going around the base. In the center, there's a nice butterfly & hippie friendly patch of wild flowers and grasses that looks simply stunning when it's in bloom.
End result is a six foot high visual imparement that probably looked FANTASTIC to the guy that hired the urban planner. I drive a truck and still have trouble getting a good look at the situation. I shudder to think about being in a car at one of those.
Tue Jan 09, 2007 3:53 pm
Isn't this how the Trojan Horse started?