Origins of the late Barbara Shawcroft's infamous "Legs" sculpture at Embarcadero @SFBART station. My favorite piece of public art that nobody could tell what it was. After years of controversy was removed in 2013 due to it being a giant fire hazard.
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BART had completed the giant Embarcadero BART station by 1975 and held a competition for two pieces of art to utilize the ends of the train walls. Two Berkeley artists won. One of them, Shawcroft, had proposed a giant pair of bell-bottom legs made of macrame rope.
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BART failed to approve Barbara's 4,000 lbs macrame until it passed fire retardant tests and material. She claimed it was sexism. BART said it'd be here forever and needed testing. She was also late in completing it, irritating BART further. Here it is under construction.
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Barbara released it to BART in 1978, filling the "barren wall". The name: Legs. The orange macrame would fly around as trains flew in. Illuminated by stage lights, Barbara believed all her art was to be made for people to touch and play with. Kids played with the rope.
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But it didnt last long. Muni trains idling spewed break soot meant BART had to clean it. Each cleaning cost $24,500 to clean. So BART fenced it off and it got dimmer, angering Barbara. BART couldnt find any place to put it. By the 80s riders couldnt always tell if it was art
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By the time I saw it, it was fully blackened. Condemned in a dark corner. The huge, intimidating rope was the most fascinating art I had ever seen. I thought it was a train washer or ship ropes as a boy. Nobody I asked knew what it was. BART had enough and killed it in 2013.
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The other piece of art is still there on the opposite side of the station. A boring slab of concrete on a wall of marble elicits not even a fraction of the curiosity or mystery the giant rope legs had for me. But it doesnt need to be cleaned and makes more sense for a subway
This thing was a huge mistake like carpets on BART was. But I loved it. I dirtied my hands grabbing it, stepping into the fence area. I just stared up in awe every day. Others just gawked at it in confusion. Now its a boring blank chasm. It had a fan account! @bartmacrame
My bad, Barbara is still alive! Here's snippets of Barbara accusing BART of sexism when testing her art vs approving the concrete slabs.
One reason BART decided to get rid of it is if you touched it and your hand was coverted in dust and soot, its an unfortunate reminder of what you're breathing in
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