Epoch is a public art installation located in the City of Sunnyvale, California. Located on Java…read moreStreet and adjacent to the NetApp headquarters, it is the work of Brad J. Goldberg. Goldberg, a native of Rhode Island, specializes in large outdoor installations. His works can be massive and often incorporate element of the surrounding community into account. From the artist: "Artist Brad Goldberg sees his work as a fusion between sculpture, landscape, and the built environment. Sculptures are seen, not as isolated objects, but rather as spirit-creating components of larger spatial experiences. The desire to work with the environment as a whole allows the creation of a unique non-preconceived response to the total aspect of a place." Epoch is a fantastic instillation. Its composed of three large granite boulders that have been cut in half and arranged in a split fashion. The cut surfaces have been polished smooth and the whole face has been engraved with binary code which reflects the technological aspect of the area. I freely admit that I can still send rudimentary signals with semaphore (Thank you Boy Scouts) but binary code reading is beyond my skill so I have no idea if there is a message in teh code. However, as I was taking a picture of a snail on the surface I noticed that several words were engraved into its surface breaking up the strings of 1 and 0's. The words I found were: Change, Nature, Community, Listen, Integrity, Imagination, Evolve, Substance, See, Chaos, and Craft. The artist intent was to show "words which can be seen to align or conflict with today's technological advancements". If that was his true intent he really hit it spot on. Epoch as noted is located in a technology park and basically surrounded by office space. There is very little in the area beyond this installation and it should be treated as a stop as opposed to an outright destination. There is a light rail station right next to the street for the public tranpost inclined.

So beautiful at night!…read more Several of the uprights and downlight are broken on the Aurus sculpture, which makes it look not as nice as its sibling across the street. Notice in the photo there is only the southern downright working; northern downlighting was broken. Also 3 out of 4 uprights were broken.

Auras is an outdoor art installation located in the City of Sunnyvale, California. Located on…read moreBordeaux Drive and in the middle of a large office complex, the sculpture is the work of artist Cliff Garten. Garten, who is based out of Venice, California, has not only a Masters of Fine Arts (sculpture) but also a Masters in Landscape Architecture (Harvard) which he uses to incorporate his designs into the environment in which they are placed. From the artist: " There is a latent potential in every public place and situation to become more than the specific functions it appears to perform. Public and private experiences are never distinct, but exchange places throughout the day. My search for a place where desire intersects with our everyday activity is the search for sculptural forms which engage us in the poetry of our own actions and define our personal and social histories. The necessary facts of our public infrastructure are cause for the possibility of a public expression through the conscious design and integration of art. Sculpture defines our interaction and movement by creating energy between things, generating interest in public activity, reframing our private lives and creating a sense of place within public and private realms." Working in a variety of mediums, the vast majority of his work focus on large public installations and can be seen around the world. Auras (the plural form) is appropriate because this installation features two of the sculptures. One on either side of the street. They are slight offset in relation to each other. Both are nearly identical to my eye and feature sort of a basket within a basket form. Made of stainless steel the interlocking lattice has a very cool effect on the light patterns that filter through. Apparently at nigh they are lit with multiple colors which I was unable to observe. Aside from the pleasing patterns, there was very little in the way of contemplation one would find with say an abstract sculpture. However, there was a sort of relaxing quality in their symmetry. Auras as noted is kind of in a remote location and is better off as a single stop as opposed to a destination. There are several other art installations nearby (I'm slowly getting to all of them), but little in the way of other infrastructure nearby unless you are working at one of the building in the area.

"As my artist's statement explains, my work is utterly incomprehensible and is therefore full of…read moredeep significance."―Calvin San José has a long line of, shall we say, questionable Public Art (PA) projects; everybody knows about the giant dog turd statue Quetzalcoatl―or as I like to call him Quetzacaca ( goo.gl/lvswBr )―in the Plaza de César Chávez. Let's also not forget the Fallon Statue debacle ( goo.gl/wKEv0g )―and don't get me started on the mangled shopping carts (goo.gl/vbB6NE) passing for a statue on the corner of Alma Ave and Almaden Rd. Need I go on?! So, whenever CSJ does something right I love to point it out. I first read about Ursa Mater (aka Mama Penny Bear) in the Merc from my buddy Sal Pizarro's column. Ursa Mater is a gigantic piece of coin art that was put together by Hayward-based artists Mr & Mrs Ferguson. She first made an appearance at last year's Burning Man festival and is now prominently displayed in Paseo de San Antonio―just east of Plaza de César Chávez, right by Bijan Bakery. The statue of Mama Bear and her two cubs sits at least 10-12' tall and is completely covered in 200,000 pennies ($2,000 worth) to make up the bears fur. It's pretty cool to look at from afar, and even cooler up close. I suggest getting here quickly to check her out, as she will only be on display until the end of May. And then we'll be back to staring at Quetzacaca forever. FOL...

I like to think that these represent the bear on the California flag. The name Ursa Mater…read more Is an excellent play on words by the artist. Ursa Major is Latin for "greater she bear" So Ursa Mater translates roughly to "She bear of matter" ( I only understand a very small amount of Latin so this may or may not be the exact translation). The bear and her cub are made of pennies so it seems the artist's intention was to make a realistic mother bear out of " matter" , hence the name. Also behind the pennies is a concrete core. It's as if these bears have a real fur made out of metal. As the previous reviewer said, there are are a lot of bad San Jose art pieces, but this one is fantastic. Just an edit: it seems to be gone now. Very sad.

I love the Triton Museum of Art. Definitely a pillar of the Santa Clara Community. Free admission!read more

This was actually my second time ever at this museum, I came a couple years back when they had a…read morechalk festival. If you ever get the chance to come show up both days so you can see the artist outlines, and when they start everything, and then day two to see the finished product!! This particular day I went with my dad and Brother to check out what new art pieces they had. We spent about an hour walking through and looking at everything. My brother, major in art and could tell us about different types of oil/paint that was used and how it would last over certain decades or fall off and crack ! Lol so I found the history of how well each artist project with withstand the time of life very interesting as well. I will definitely come back when this gallery changes to another theme! It also has a very nice park. I just wish there was a coffee shop or Matcha shop nearby! Hee

The Double Diver is an outdoor art installation located in Sunnyvale, California. The work of…read moreartist Carole A. Feuerman, it was commissioned by and located in front of a Net App Corporation Office. Feuerman is considered one of the pioneers of Hyperrealist style. This style which was derived from Photorealism, really strives to emphasize details and focuses extensive on the subject. From the artists website: "Feuerman seeks to connect with her viewers on an intuitive level, evoking emotion and engagement. It is often the viewer's participation, or the object/viewer relationship, that completes her work." He sculptures are seen around the world and in many major museums. This work is one of her largest outdoor projects to date. The Double Diver was commissioned by Net App in 2012 with a desire to showcase the companies values of integrity, trust, adaptability and teamwork. It is really striking in both scale and the level of detail present in the sculptures. The figures are clearly show their dependent nature on each other. This is my first experience with this particular artist and her detail work is on the level of Rodin (albeit in a different style). The figures are overlapped with rounded scales that enhance and add detail. It does kind of looks very similar (NERD alert) to the movie representations of Mystique's (of XMEN fame, played by Jennifer Lawrence) skin when she is not shapeshifting. They overlap in fascinating patterns. This particular art installation is not really around anything, nor is there other things to do in close proximity. As such it is much better as part of a larger activity. The Bay trail is close by, as are several other large scale outdoor art within a few miles. There might be a eatery tucked away here or there, but they typically only work during office hours so you will need to plan ahead.

As small business month is quickly approaching I was thinking how wonderful and vibrant a community…read moreJapantown San Jose is. There so many seasoned and new diverse small business owners here in the heart of Japantown. Classic Loot, Zonkey, Roy's, Santo Market, Taqueria Corona, Minato, Hukilau, Kazoo are among my families favorites. We have also enjoyed and welcomed new businesses too like Banne (yummy sourdough) and Furbaby Fancy petgrooming (the most posh and elite pet grooming experience) into our rotation as well! I should have just listed all the businesses here! So proud of the businesses that contribute to our community!

There's definitely a lot of history, community love, and shops and restaurants here. It's smaller…read morethan the other Little Tokyo in LA and Japan Town in SF (I think), but because we came around midday lunch time on a Tuesday after Fanime, not many stores or restaurants were surprisingly open? Maybe it's due to being after Memorial Day or because most of them were night time dinner service only restaurants. Either way it's much cleaner than Little Tokyo in LA and with less jump scares and trash everywhere. Easier to find parking and more affordable, in a sense, than Japan Town SF. Stopped by the Japanese grocery store and Santo Market while we were here. Fun to kill a couple of hours, I suppose. I just gotta come back here again when more things are open !

Lupe the Mammoth is a cool (not so) little structure on the Guadalupe River Trail about 4 miles…read morefrom Alviso. There's not much around the area, so unless you are biking or jogging on the trail, it might seem out of the way to view such a simple little-known monument. But it has a neat little story behind it for anyone interested in art, science, history, or nature, or even just cool quirky attractions that are free of cost. A guy came across the collection of bones while walking his dog along the trail back in 2005. How awesome is that, it's like finding a dinosaur in your backyard! The actual remains can now be found at the Childrens Discovery Museum in San Jose where they can inspire kids to "dig for fossils" and explore the past, but the unique sculpture on the Guadalupe River Trail marks the setting of this magnificent discovery. And it is far from ordinary. It's beautifully crafted out of bent steel pipes, and almost twice the size of the actual baby mammoth remains. The area and the exhibit itself are not run down by trash or graffiti or shady characters, so it makes for a pleasant experience and worth checking out. The area is actual pretty quiet and scenic, besides the Trimble Road highway (there's an underpass that connects the trail if you're looking to cross the busy street). It's surrounded by business parks, with private parking only. So there is no parking at the exact location of the mammoth statue. However if you're driving, there is free street parking on Seaboard Ave (6am-10pm), next to the nearby 76 gas station, within walking distance... Though the sculpture can easily be viewed from Trimble Road, please don't stop on the street (illegally) and block traffic. This isn't the most exciting attraction in San Jose so you shouldn't have too high of expectations. But if looking for a low-key outing that won't cost you a penny, this is a great option (to appreciate this work of art in person, not just through photos).

Columbia mammoth spotted along the Guadeloupe Trail! Ok, actually it is only the whiff of a memory…read moreof a memory locked in a skeleton fossil over 12,500 years old. A sculpture of a mammoth made of what looks like curved metal bars sits under a tree waving at commuting cars trundling along the street. It is massive and I think quite cool. I hope the city makes it a habit of putting more sculptures and works of art along the trail. There is a small information board that gives you the low-down on Lupe, her discovery, and how old it is. A cool snippet of one of the coolest cousin to elephants that used to wander in Silicone Valley in the Pleistocene period. Tres cool! The large metal structure isn't in the best location, but can easily be visited by joggers, walkers and bicyclists wandering along the Guadeloupe trail where is passes through the city of Santa Clara.

Sail Sculpture is an outdoor art installation located in the city of Mountain View, California…read more Located on Garcia Avenue, it is the work of artist Burke Rutherford. It is located near Intuit Corporation Building 4. As a side note you never see Intuit bikes abandoned but I digress... Rutherford, who was born in Utah, and moved to California in his youth, studied art extensively in Europe. His work which is primarily seen in North America, ranges from huge outdoor installations to small tabletop designs. Its seems very hard to pin down a particular style and he seemed content to dabble in a vast multitude of them. He passed away at his home in Mexico in 2015 From the artist: 'There is noting more gratifying than to see people, young, old, and even blind, enjoy your work, touching and feeling the sculpture as it truly should be experienced" And indeed, before I did my research, I was compelled to run my hand down the face of one of the triangles. I normally do not do this but I'm happy to see this was his intent. The sculpture consists of three abstract, curved triangles position close together. The effect is very cool, and from some angles you may only see one, or all three, but you are drawn into the symmetry and differences of each piece. This kind of art significantly interfered with my bike ride as I was really reluctant to leave the sculpture. It really drew me in. If I had a lawn chair and a decent pilsner in quantity, I could spend hours just staring at it. Sail Sculpture is really off by itself. There is a variety of activities to do within a few miles, and this is better as a stop than a destination. There is a nearby installation I have already review, Ling The Lang and Buzzcock, so there is more than afew to see int he immediate vacinity. There are also several installations int he immediate area I have not gotten too, so stay tuned

Spent a few hours at the Computer History Museum and didn't expect it to feel as reflective as it…read moredid. The museum walks you through the evolution of computing, from early mechanical calculators to modern microprocessors, software systems, and AI. You can see machines like ENIAC (one of the first general-purpose electronic computers) along with punch-card systems, the Apple I, and other machines that once felt futuristic and now look dusty and almost fragile. Everything here is built in layers, not in isolation: ideas evolving over time, people contributing in ways that are not always visible at first, yet shaping the outcome. Still, it is striking to see how these machines have become extensions of how we think nowadays (our brains). We offload memory, rely on algorithms to anticipate what we want, and increasingly hide behind screens. We run away from the real world and avoid real human connection. In some ways, it can feel easier to trust systems than real people because systems are predictable, responsive, dopamine-inducing, and do not require human effort or vulnerability. People do. People are messy. Here where the museum unexpectedly becomes even more reflective. It makes you wonder how easily we stay self-contained, avoid the messiness of real connection, and fill the space with endless technological distraction. Roughly 1 in 2 U.S. adults report experiencing loneliness, with in-person social interaction declining over time. Technology makes it easier to stay in your own world, away from uncertainty, risk, and the effort real closeness requires. So where does this lead us? What is our future? Is it for our good? If it feels easier this way, is it actually better? Are we becoming more connected, or just more efficiently alone? P.S. I think the admission for youth should be cheaper.

A fantastic journey through the history of computing! So…read moremuch to explore here and they even offer demonstrations. Always a great time.