Time, baseball give meaning to art
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By Adam Cairns/ThisWeek
The "Going, Going...Gone!" artwork at Darree Fields off Cosgray Road is part of Dublin's art in public places series.
Editor's note: The sixth in an eight-part series on public art in Dublin.
Dublin's sixth piece of public artwork, located at Darree Fields, got off to a rather inauspicious start.
The installation of "Going, Going...Gone!" by Oregon artist Don Merkt was delayed by rain and the dedication ceremony was canceled by an event that changed the country.
Rain pushed the installation from May to September 2001.
The dedication ceremony was set for the evening of Sept. 11, 2001. The event was called off after the terrorist attacks.
"We never dedicated it because of 9/11," said Janet Cooper, marketing and public relations manager for the Dublin Arts Council. "Everything was set; it was going to be that day."
The dedication was never rescheduled, arts council executive director David Guion said.
"I don't think we've talked about it, but it might be interesting to have the artist here to respond to the art," he said. "It might be nice to re-introduce the art."
"Going, Going...Gone!" consists of a bronze baseball bat striking a ball that is shaped like an alarm clock. The ball's path is marked with a series of yellow discs that say "Going."
The final disc along a tree line in Darree Fields, 6259 Cosgray Road, says "Gone" and is mounted on an open bronze door. Stepping through the door, pieces of deteriorated clocks and other items are strewn around the woods.
In his proposal for the work, Merkt said the art was meant to speak through sports and time.
"Thus with the simple act of stepping to home plate, the 'batter' is experiencing the direct connotation of a home run, but also the more transcendent experience of time, the passage of time and where has it gone," the proposal said. "The implications are as myriad and complex as the individual himself."
In a 2001 Columbus Dispatch story, Merkt said he hoped the art would appeal to all ages.
"Primarily people who view it are kids who come to play baseball or soccer with their parents," he said. "I think kids will get the 'going, going, gone,' and I think the adults will understand the time theme. Perhaps the kids will too; I think they can."
Cooper said she accompanied a tour of the art with an English as second language class earlier this summer.
Language was not a barrier when it came to interpreting the art.
"It really impressed me that they understood what the artist was trying to communicate with them beyond what they see," she said. "I think there's a commentary about the passage of time."
Guion said time is a difficult concept to deal with, especially in art.
"The idea of time is a big concept," he said. "That's a tough one for anyone to grapple with."
But art is meant to be thought provoking, Cooper said.
"I know it was thought provoking to (the students). They were recognizing the passage of time," she said.
"Going, Going...Gone!" was built for $150,000, with funds coming from Dublin's hotel/motel tax, Washington Township and the Ohio Arts Council.
