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Saturday, April 23, 2011

Most Terrible: Vote Now: Least Favorite Piece of Public Art in San Francisco

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Monday, April 11, 2011, by Abby Pontzer

4-11-11worst.jpg["legs" via Nathan Hodges; "Cupid's Span" via Sergio; "UN Plaza Fountain" via Waldemar Horwat; "Vaillancourt Fountain via Bob Horowitz; "The Banker's Heart" via Dgies

The nominations are in! Here's what you, dear readers, nominated as some of your most cringe-worthy pieces of public art in the city. Go ahead, you know they bother you enough to click a vote button.
Your esteemed choices:

1. "Legs" at Embarcadero station. Also known as filthy rope thing, and misunderstood by many a passer-by as a mop used to clean the trains, this art was installed in the mid-1970s. Made out of flame-resistant fabric developed for firefighters, it was originally a bright orange. Years of train grime have turned it into a mess.
2. "Cupid's Span," along the Embarcadero. This piece gets a nod because it's "boring" and didn't live up to expectations of becoming a San Francisco icon. Not exactly a lot of wrath from readers, but certainly quite a few yawns.
3. The United Nations Plaza Fountain. It's in Mid-Market, so you know it gets a mention. Will it get cleaned up in the next push to revitalize Mid-Market? Or can we count on many shocked Twitterers as people continue to bathe and otherwise in a public fountain?
4. "Vaillancourt Fountain" at Justin Herman Plaza, aka "Quebec Libre." Also referred to as a "concrete carbuncle," this installation has been sitting and rusting ever since it was taken out of the shadow of the Embarcadero freeway.
5. "Transcendence," aka "The Banker's Heart" at 555 California. A big old piece of granite, which allows people to make fun of soulless bankers and lazy public art at the same time.

Every vote counts, so cast yours today! We'll announce the winner on Wednesday.


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