Electronic Poet
{{Short description|Sculpture in Portland, Oregon}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Electronic Poet
| image_file = File:Electronic Poet, Portland (2014) - 1.jpg
| caption = The sculpture in 2014
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| artist = Keith Jellum
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| year = {{start date|1984}}
| type = Sculpture
| material = Bronze, LED light board
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| height_imperial = 10
| width_imperial = 52
| length_imperial = 20
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| metric_unit = m
| imperial_unit = in
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| city = Portland, Oregon, United States
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| coordinates = {{coord|45.519784|-122.681537|type:landmark_region:US-OR|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| mapframe = yes
| mapframe-zoom = 13
| owner = Parking garage at Southwest 10th and Yamhill; City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council
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Electronic Poet, also known as E.P. (Electronic Poet), is an outdoor 1984 sculpture by Keith Jellum, located above the sidewalk on Southwest Morrison Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues in downtown Portland, Oregon. The abstract piece is made of bronze and an LED light board which displays poems programmed in a loop. It is administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Description
File:Electronic Poet, Portland (2014) - 2.jpg
The sculpture measures {{Convert|10|in|m}} x {{Convert|52|in|m}} x {{Convert|20|in|m}} and is made of bronze and an LED light board.{{cite web|title=Electronic Poet|url=http://racc.org/public-art/search/?recid=969.178|publisher=Regional Arts & Culture Council|access-date=September 25, 2014}} It displays curated collections of poems programmed in an "evolving" loop, intended to be rotated every six months. Selections of Jellum's favorite poems from around the world have featured American poets born before 1990, European, Native American and Northwestern poets, and Oregon place names, among others.{{cite news|last1=Anderson|first1=Jennifer|title=Stumptown Stumper|url=http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=92227|access-date=September 25, 2014|work=The Portland Tribune|date=September 20, 2007|archive-date=August 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829035347/http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=92227|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Electronic Poet|url=https://www.publicartarchive.org/art/Electronic-Poet|publisher=Public Art Archive|access-date=September 24, 2014}} The artist wanted to create "opportunities for moments of reflection within the urban landscape".
The Smithsonian Institution categorizes the sculpture as abstract.{{cite web|title=Electronic Poet, (sculpture).|url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!368962~!0#focus|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|access-date=September 24, 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043426/http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!368962~!0#focus|url-status=live}} Smithsonian lists the parking garage at the intersection of Southwest 10th and Yamhill as the work's owner, while 'cultureNOW' says it is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the Regional Arts & Culture Council.{{cite web|title=Electronic Poet, 1984|url=http://culturenow.org/entry%26permalink%3D06264%26seo%3DElectronic-Poet_Keith-Jellum-and-City-of-Portland-and-Multnomah-County-Public-Art-Collection-courtesy-of-the-Regional-Arts-Culture-Council|publisher=cultureNOW|access-date=September 24, 2014|archive-date=December 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229103235/http://culturenow.org/entry%26permalink%3D06264%26seo%3DElectronic-Poet_Keith-Jellum-and-City-of-Portland-and-Multnomah-County-Public-Art-Collection-courtesy-of-the-Regional-Arts-Culture-Council|url-status=live}} Electronic Poet was funded by the city's Percent for Art program and is administered by the Regional Arts & Culture Council.
Reception
"Dr. Know" (Marty Smith) of Willamette Week emphasized that the sculpture does not compose the text it displays and said its six-month rotation schedule "does not appear to be religiously observed".{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Marty|title=Dr. Know: Whale Tail Tale|url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22722-dr_know_whale_tail_tale.html|access-date=September 25, 2014|work=Willamette Week|date=June 25, 2014|archive-date=July 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140721042458/http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-22722-dr_know_whale_tail_tale.html|url-status=live}} Of the work's introduction, in the form of the text "I am E.P." being displayed approximately every ten minutes, Smith hypothesized: "Since E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came out in 1982, possibly the Poet’s name was a play on the then-recent sci-fi blockbuster about another technologically advanced being with a wide, flat head. Possibly, but I hope not." The sculpture has been included in walking tours of Portland.{{cite book|last1=Cook|first1=Sybilla Avery|title=Walking Portland|date=1998|publisher=Globe Pequot|page=58|isbn=9781560446040|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oh_dA76n37gC&pg=PA58|access-date=September 25, 2014}}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140829145643/http://racc.org/sites/default/files/ArtWalk_2014.pdf A Guide to Portland Public Art] (2010), Regional Arts & Culture Council (PDF)
{{Keith Jellum}}
{{Public art in Portland, Oregon}}
{{Portal bar|Oregon|Visual arts}}
Category:1984 establishments in Oregon
Category:Abstract sculptures in Oregon
Category:American poetry collections
Category:Bronze sculptures in Portland, Oregon