In the water where cruise ships dock in San Juan, Puerto Rico, there is a steel sculpture. About 10 months ago, it became a problem when the Carnival Dream was cruising into port and couldn’t get to the dock because the sculpture was in the way. There was only one place for the Dream to be moored, and that pier was already occupied by another ship.
To make matters worse, there was a press conference scheduled for the next day to announce San Juan’s plan to expand its ability to be a regular port for more and more cruise ships. The press conference was to be held on the Dream. The press conference was canceled. Since then, the decision was made to remove the massive sculpture from the water, at a cost of $2 million.
As recent (April) visitors to San Juan, we have a real problem with this. Not the money, because it’s up to the people of Puerto Rico how their tax dollars are spent. We’re okay with canceling the press conference. We’re even okay with the loss of the artwork in the water.
Our problem is this: We don’t remember the sculpture.
In a story about its demise (currently underway), the Associated Press described the structure this way: “The offending sculpture — it looks like a giant paper airplane propped up by gray legs — was installed along the dock in 2006 as part of a $30 million project to build a new port in San Juan’s colonial district.”
That’s where we were, the Colonial District, Old San Juan. We stayed on the fringe of it at the Sheraton San Juan, not for one day but for three. Since hearing about its impending removal, we’ve been researching the web for pictures that will jog our memory. We’ve poured over hundreds of our own pictures — it seemed like thousands — trying to find it in the background of one. Can you see it in this picture (above) we took?
What we’re really worried about is this: With such a flaw on our record, we may never be regarded as connoisseurs of modern art!