Sacramento’s flying carpet

When passengers “deplane” (could this be the only word in the English language coined by flight attendants?), their first sense of what their destination is like comes from what they see in the airport. Many cities go to great lengths to convey to travellers the essence of their locales through the architecture and art that is displayed in the terminals.

Sac International is no different in that regard. As part of their expansion/renovation, they’ve had displayed a “flying carpet” by artist Seyed Alavi:

This project consists of an aerial view of the Sacramento River that is woven into a carpet for the floor of a pedestrian bridge connecting the terminal to the parking garage. This image represents approximately 50 miles of the Sacramento River starting just outside of Colusa, California and ending about 6 miles south of Chico.

The artist’s interpretation of his work and its implementation is interesting. In a way, he incorporates the entire airport as part of this work:

In addition to recalling the experience of flight and flying, this piece, by depicting the larger geographical area, also helps to reinforce a sense of belonging and/or connection for the traveler. In this way, the carpet can also be read and experienced as a “welcome mat” for visitors arriving in Sacramento. The siting of this piece on a bridge also helps to highlight a few other conceptual aspects of the work. A bridge is a connection between two destinations; it is not a destination in and of itself; it is neither here, nor there. In this way it is similar to an airplane, or a river connecting one place to another; here to there; a moment of flight frozen in mid air; a flowing river that takes us along with its current to another destination. In this way, the piece also creates a koanic relationship between a river and a bridge, since their ordinary position have been turned around, and it is now the river that is on/above the bridge.

The next time you’re off to pick someone up at the airport, impress them with that interpretation.