Vibrancy: Keeping Austin Weird

Written by Anna Calatrava on Nov 12, 2019.

Keep Austin Weird seems to be a fitting slogan for this city. Although it is mostly used to urge shoppers to buy from local businesses, the phrase has come to include anything originally Austinite. Musicians and other artists have added to Austin’s weird vibe with no hesitation.

Choosing a single artwork that represented the city’s atmosphere is challenging. Around every corner there is a painted wall, a brilliant sculpture, and many unique structures and installations. When a friend of mine came up to me and told me about the Gibson Guitars, I thought nothing could be more appropriate for this project. A ten-foot-tall guitar sculpture checked all the boxes.

Walking through Downtown Austin, the city’s beating heart, can be quite an adventure. The Live Music Capital of the World is named as such because of the performances experienced in bars like Elephant Room and The Continental Club. This scene is celebrated to the fullest not only during the iconic Austin City Limits Music Festival, but on the daily basis by local artists. What is more Austin than music and art?

The GuitarTown community arts project was all about this. In September of 2006, Gibson Guitar brought together thirty-five local artists to personalize ten-foot tall fiberglass Gibson Les Pauls. They were on public exhibition, in different locations of the city, until October 2007. Each of the guitars where then auctioned to raise funds for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM); American YouthWorks; Austin Children’s Museum; and the Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) (1).

Out of the thirty-five sculptures, I found two still standing on the sidewalks of Downtown Austin: Sixth String by Randy Rudman, in front of the Starbucks on Congress Ave. and 6th; and my personal favorite, Vibrancy by Craig Hein, next to the Frost Bank Tower on Congress Ave. and 4th.

With no information at the time about the GuitarTown project, only what was in the plaques, I approached people to ask about the sculptures. Interestingly, no one I talked to seemed to know about the project or the artworks. Ben, who has been the night shift security guard at the Frost Bank Tower for over a year, said he has never even gone close enough to Vibrancy to read its plaque, despite working thirty feet away and with a clear view of the guitar. He mentioned he didn’t care about art, but it made him angry that tourists would make the sculpture wobble by hanging from it and homeless people sometimes urinate on it.

The staff at The Contemporary Austin – Jones Center, a museum dedicated to promoting Texas-based artist, stated they only had specific information about exhibitions on their space, and instead directed me towards the Art in Public Places program from the Economic Development department. Attempts to contact the department via phone call and email were futile, thus I visited their online public art archive for information.

Their extensive collection seemed to be incomplete. The GuitarTown project is listed as Gibson Guitars, and it only includes information about eight of the sculptures, donated to the city in 2006 by the Milton Verret family, to decorate the baggage claim area of the airport (2).

Gibson’s website had more clues. It explained briefly that the project was “dedicated to bringing visual and musical artists together in a unique display of ten-foot Gibson Guitar sculptures to be placed throughout the city” (3); who the sponsors and beneficiaries were; and had information about all of the artworks (name, visual artist, who signed it, and original display location).

Overall, I thought it was not enough for this essay, so I decided to contact Randy Rudman and Craig Hein directly. While I am still waiting for a response from the first one, Hein answered gladly. Not only did he send me a plethora of facts about his piece, but also an original brochure from the auction that had a detailed explanation of the Gibson project.

Craig Hein is a Texan artist that specializes in “large-format, digital murals and illustrations”. His portfolio includes an assortment of media, including another painted sculpture for a charity auction, Guardin’ the Garden for Paws for a Purpose; a UT licensed print depicting a photographic montage of the university; and experiments with computer coding to generate visually complex designs (4).

I was excited to know more about what had been a mystery for over a week. In his email, Hein mentioned that he used acrylic paints and an automotive clear coat to protect it (5). The sculpture itself is beautiful, colorful, and playful. Even though the colors have faded in the past decade, I would call it a showstopper. I could spot it from a block away and, as you go closer, you discover it has more details than expected, and that what seems to be texture or movement is just clever strokes and details affecting the eyes’ perception.

The artist’s intention was to give “an abstract interpretation of the vibrancy of Austin’s live music experience, culture, and energy through the expressive use of color, shape and visual motion” (6). Not only did he achieve his goal, but he also gave Austin an iconic landmark. In 2014, the guitar made an appearance in the opening credits of Jimmy Kimmel Live! when the show was filmed in the city, next to other hot spots; then it can be spotted in a scene of Boyhood, the Oscar winning film directed by Richard Linklatter (7); and is featured on the cover of the upcoming book 111 Places in Austin That You Must Not Miss by writers Kelsey Roslin and Nick Yeager (8).

While a few years ago Vibrancy was the talk of the town, it is sad to see that, even though tourists and locals alike still recognize it as an Austin landmark, they don’t appear to have a clear idea of its origin or any information available to learn about it. More than just a big and colorful guitar that you stumble upon on a sidewalk and take selfies with, Vibrancy is the perfect combination of music and art, and should be more relevant when we’re talking about what keeps Austin weird.

References

1. Gibson Guitar Corp. (2007). Austin GuitarTown [Brochure]. Austin, TX.

2. Public Art Archive. (2006). Gibson Guitars [Sculptures]. Art in Public Places Collection. Retrieved from https://locate.publicartarchive.org/art/5dc47f944bbfcb2511e13647?ib=ext

3. Gibson Archive. (2006). Austin GuitarTown Project [Sculptures]. Retrieved from http://archive.gibson.com/AustinGuitarTownWebsite/The%20GuitarTown%20Project/

4. Hein, C. (2019). Craig Hein Design Portfolio. Craig Hein Design Studio. Retrieved from http://www.craigheindesign.com/index.html

5. Hein, C (personal communication, November 7, 2019)

6. Hein, C (personal communication, November 7, 2019)

7. Hein, C. (2019). Vibrancy. Craig Hein Design Studio. Retrieved from http://www.craigheindesign.com/10.html

8. ACC Art Books (2019). 111 Places in Austin That You Must Not Miss. Retrieved from https://www.accartbooks.com/us/store/pv/9783740807481/111-places-in-austin-thatyou-must-not-miss/nick-yeager-kelsey-roslin/