Surveyors find beauty in straight lines. Here at Magnuson Park, we find Perri Lynch’s “Straight Shot” sculpture. It celebrates a valuable straight line. It also protects it. This public art installation marks the Sand Point calibration baseline.
Straight Shot was unveiled in 2007. It features twelve limestone columns. These six-foot-high monoliths align precisely. Each has peepholes. These allow viewers a targeted look, like a surveyor’s.
But what is this line? It’s mostly spatial. Small bronze disks mark periodic stations. Surveyors use it to verify equipment. This equipment aids construction, law enforcement, and transportation. Gavin Schrock says everything we measure needs a ruler. We must ensure rulers are the same length. Calibration lines ensure consistent measurements. Whether using lasers or satellites.
The Sand Point line is accurate to within half a millimeter. The idea arose when park construction threatened the line. Washington has about a dozen baselines. Sand Point’s is probably the most used.
If you wrapped it around the world, it would pass near Mount Hood. Also the Santa Barbara Peninsula, and Easter Island. It would even pass Queen Maud Land in Antarctica.
Geodesists and surveyors sought to protect it. They felt public art would be effective. It is easier to reserve the line through art. Persuading the public about its importance would be harder. Art is a good teacher.
Perri Lynch won the competition. Her studio was nearby. She explores human perception and sense of place. Lynch was drawn to this unseen landmark. Most people don’t know it exists. Let alone its importance.
The baseline is humble. It defines our world without our knowledge. A ten-foot-wide swath cuts through Magnuson Park. Thousands pass it daily, unnoticed. Lynch hopes the artwork changes this. She hopes it registers with park users. That they revere it as special. That it enhances their park experience.
Lynch played with perspective. The distance between pillars doubles along the line. It starts south of the boat launch. Then stretches to a sports meadow.
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs and Seattle Public Utilities commissioned the work. It cost $40,000 from SPU’s One Percent for Art fund. A surveyors association and equipment company also contributed.
The artwork consists of twelve dark limestone obelisks. Cylindrical boreholes align them. They follow the one-kilometer baseline. It starts at the Lake Washington shoreline. It ends at the park’s northern edge.
Perri Lynch went to Marblehead High School in Massachusetts. She has degrees from Evergreen State College. Also, the University of Washington. And a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art. She was a 2009 Fulbright Scholar.
Some surveyors call Straight Shot “Linehenge.” The artwork preserves the baseline. It was in peril of being destroyed. Now, it’s a celebrated part of the park. Next time you are in Magnuson Park, make sure to take your own straight shot.