Sunday, February 01, 2009

Fork

What do you think, art or sign?



The Stone Oak Property Owners Association doesn't like it, no matter what it is.

A sculpture of an oversized fork recently installed outside two new Stone Oak restaurants has drawn the ire of the local property owners association.

The Vatel Restaurant Group didn't have permission to install the giant aluminum fork on its property at 20626 Stone Oak Parkway, and now must either remove it or relocate it to a spot not easily seen from the road, said the Stone Oak Property Owners Association.

The flap over the big fork: Its owner has deemed it a work of art; the POA has deemed it advertising, a sign that screams “Eat here.”

It's a lovely piece of work, but it's a sign,” said Sandy Whitley, chairwoman of the Stone Oak Architectural Review Committee. “If you allow something like that, there's nothing to prohibit a Shoney's Big Boy. That's the problem.”

Were the sculpture of anything else, there likely wouldn't be a problem with it, Whitley said. [emphases added]

(from Jennifer Hiller of the Express-News)

I think the property owners association is being a bit of a stick in the mud here. That fork is obviously a piece of art, even if it is advertising a restaurant. And what kind of argument is it to say if the sculpture were "of anything else, there likely wouldn't be a problem"?

Really? Anything? What about a nude woman (as long as it isn't in Diane Cibrian's district)? Or a zombie eating brains? Or a giant garden gnome? Or anything by Picasso? Are all these really preferable to a tasteful, if odd, work of art that might also be construed as drawing attention to the business it is installed in front of?

I think not. The fork is fine, and it should be left where it is. It will give the place some character, and it may even draw people out there (to spend money, perhaps, at area restaurants and shops) who might not otherwise brave the traffic of North Loop 1604.

Stone Oak should be glad for the fork.

3 comments:

Dave said...

Maybe they should swap it for the Gumby sculpture downtown. Then, when people come into our downtown area, they will see the fork as a symbol of consistently being on the Fattest City list.

paceves3 said...

Seriously. It's a fork. An attention getter that'll bring in more money for the restaurant.

Why must there be so many haters in the world?

Many of these folks are mad because they didn't think of something as creative and innovative as a fork sculpture.

Albatross said...

If the property owner put up a giant aluminum "U" next to the fork, do you think the POA would get the message?