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08 October 2004
it hurts to even think about it
Today's SFGate features an article about the new mosaic at the entrance to the Livermore public library. So far, so good. But then we learn that of the 175 names on the wall (artists, scientists, other luminaries), eleven are misspelled. Einstein is spelled "Eistein," Shakespeare is spelled "Shakespere," Gauguin is spelled "Gaugan"...the SFGate has kindly provided a chart of the misspellings.
The city of Livermore is having the artist return to correct the mosaic. The article notes, though, that:
...she [artist Maria Alquilar] was unapologetic about the blunders when she told the Associated Press that others present when the mosaic was installed should have caught them. Besides, she said, it's art. "The people that are into humanities, and are into (William) Blake's concept of enlightenment, they are not looking at the words," she said. "In their mind, the words register correctly."So, um, we're somehow unenlightened if we think spelling names correctly is important? I could see if phonetic spelling or some other twist was intended by the artist as part of the commentary of the mosaic, but the article goes on to note that "City officials who pointed out the errors to Alquilar said she seemed to have no idea the names were spelled incorrectly." As if my head didn't hurt enough already...wow.
Postscript: The SFGate now reports that the artist is refusing to return to Livermore to make the corrections.
Update, 14 October: The artist has been persuaded to return to Livermore and to correct the misspellings.