Parking Lot Shipwreck (Gone)
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
In western Massachusetts, we're hoping to finish a long day of hypertouring with one last stop before the light goes. It's an unverified tip that a parking lot in Pittsfield harbors a sinking boat jutting "4-5 stories into the air."
It's there, in neighboring Coltsville, at the Allendale Shopping Center.
The bow of a scaled-down tanker, labeled "The Seabee," juts up from the asphalt about 35 feet. It was created by artist Dustin Shuler in 1990. He's the guy who built "Spindle," another wacky/symbolic parking lot extrusion, in the Chicago suburb of Berwyn.
The ship's plaque informs the curious that Shuler "believes in art that puts everyday things out of context, such as a ship rising out of the sea of cars in the parking lot of a mall."
There was no sea of cars when we visited, just two parked in the shade created by the boat. Shuler probably didn't think of that, but no doubt would like the notion.
June 2003: The uppermost portion has been moved to California State University in Fullerton, California.
2002: Gone! New owners of the shopping center have dismantled the Shipwreck, part of a disturbing assault on suburban parking lot public art. See the news report.
