Tucson's Public Art

Title: Inverted Pecans in Ceremonial Red (Rufus pecanosaurus), by Roger Asay and Rebecca Davis (1988)

Location: Reid Park on the south side near 22nd Street.

Details: Commissioned by Tucson Parks and Recreation & Tucson-Pima County Arts Council.

She Said:

These sculptures remind me of strange creatures walking through the park where they are displayed. I like them; the red color sets them off nicely, and the knobby "knees" underscore the look of legs. They don't seem to be trees, particularly, though they do also remind me of mangrove roots. Now, mangroves grow in swampy areas, which Tucson assuredly isn't, but art is about imagination, so perhaps mangroves aren't really too far out of line. (For more on imagination, be sure the read my partners remarks below.)

He Said:

When I was a small child, I had the now-interesting notion that a tree's roots below ground looked exactly like the branches above ground. If the tree branched into two six feet above ground, then the roots branched into two six feet below ground, and that every branch above ground was exactly duplicated in the ground below. Where I got this curious, and as I now know to be false, notion, I'm not sure.

When I look at these inverted pecans in ceremonial red, that's exactly what I think of: nothing profound, nothing introspective, just this funny, curious notion of the five year old I once was.