Braille Rail

Title: Braille Rail
LC Subject: Sculpture Public sculpture sculpture (visual work)
Creator: Jellum, Keith
Description: The brash, strutting crows / impress themselves. / Their secret joke / aloft in the wind. keithjellum@isp.cm The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is: Regional Arts & Culture. You may view their website at http://www.racc.org/
View: Full view
Location: Portland >> Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States Oregon Commission for the Blind >> Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States Multnomah County >> Oregon >> United States
Street Address: S.E. 12th and Washington Ave., Portland, Oregon
Award Date: 2007-2008
Identifier: Jellu_Fence_03
Accession Number: Jellu_Fence_03
Rights: In Copyright
Dc Rights Holder: Jellum, Keith
Type: Image
Format: image/jpeg
Measurements: ca. 17 feet x 12 feet 4 inches
Material: stainless steel posts in 1 x 1 x 1 foot concrete footings with 1/2 inch rebar throughout Sculpture Everdur bronze and rebar with stainless steele posts in concrete footings, patina, lacquer and carnuba wax
Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Primary Set: Oregon Percent for Art
Relation: Oregon Commission for the Blind Headquarters Remodel Project
Institution: Oregon Arts Commission University of Oregon
Color Space: RGB Color
Biographical Information: As the designer of the BRAILLE RAILLE, my purpose has been to give you something to discover in a Haiku-like poem, in an expanded Braille format, which is presented in a sculptural way. I have always been interested in poetry as well as being a sculptor for all of my life. The purpose of this hand-out is to give you some tips on how to approach and read this piece. / The railing (and poem) begins to the left, after one exits the Oregon Commission for the Blind, a few feet beyond the building. It then proceeds, in a straight line for about seven feet, where there is a line break in the poem, and the railing splits and goes up as well as down, around a corner and then the poem continues Northward, next to the sidewalk along Twelveth Street, abouth twelve feet to it's end. / Since the railing is in an expanded, blow-up, Braille format, if you read Braille, this might be puzzling at first. My suggestion is that you tactily explore the whole piece first before you try to read the poem. This will give you a larger sense of the over all presentation. / Personally I cannot read Braille with my fingertips. As a sculptor who works with metal, my fingers are so caloused that I don't have the sensitivity to do that. However I have learned, as a sighted person, to read traditional, first grade Braille, visually. / Part of the purpose of this project, for me, has been to also present this railing as a learning device for sighted folks. I wanted to give sighted people the chance to close their eyes and imagine, explore that reality, explore those senses that they have, in a different manner. To help achieve this I have embossed English letters underneath each Braille letter such that it may give them the impulse to explore Braille in a different format. / In this expanded format of first grade Braille, I have multiplied the sizes of the 'bumps' as well as the spaces between Braille letters and words by about eight times. Spaces between poem line breaks are two times the space between words. The curved, raised, corner section is a line break between the first line of the poem and the rest of it. The space between the Braille letters is about one inch; the spaces between words is about three inches; the line breaks are about six inches (except fo the curved corner). / Once upon a time I had two pet crows. This poem is about a bit of the nature of crows. I could tell you amazing stories about them...some of which you wouldn't believe. If you are not sighted and have never seen but have only heard crows, I hope this poem gives you a tidbit of insight about their nature. / Keith Jellum