Giant sea serpent sculpture lights up Golden Gate Park in ‘magical' debut

San Francisco Chronicle​

4 days ago

Under just a sliver of a moon Monday night in San Francisco, an overflow crowd turned the JFK Promenade into the Playa on the Pavement for the ceremonial lighting of a giant Burning Man sea serpent that has found its way to Golden Gate Park.
After a two-hour buildup, the switch was thrown just before 9 p.m., and blinking purple and green LED lights illuminated the aqua-colored 100-foot-long, 25-foot-tall sculpture named Naga. Installed in the pond at the base of the Rainbow Falls, Naga is lit from within and periodically exhales bubbles through its nose.
'I got a contact euphoria from the whole show, like I was standing in the middle of a Harry Potter movie,' said Kat Anderson, president of the city's Recreation and Park Commission. 'It is one of the most magical things I've ever seen.'
Naga, originally created for the 2024 Burning Man counterculture event in the northwestern Nevada desert, is the largest art installation ever in Golden Gate Park. A crowd estimated by a park ranger at 1,000 people came for the spectacle, many dressed in pirate attire to fit the seagoing theme, some with their hair dyed to match the serpent's scales.
Cherie Defer, who described herself as 'a longtime fan of the serpent,' arrived with her hair streaked in turquoise and vowed to keep it that way 'for as long as Naga is with us.'
This vow means a one-year commitment with a possible multiyear extension, which is how long the piece by artist Cjay Roughgarden will be in the park.
It is handmade of aluminum scales over a steel frame, a process that cost $350,000 in grants, donations and private funding, and took a crew of artists and volunteers 35,000 man hours at Roughgarden's workshop, Seaport Studios in Richmond.
Monday night's event was staged and hosted by Illuminate, the arts nonprofit behind the Bay Lights installation on the Bay Bridge. It was the second ceremony to mark the opening of Naga in Golden Gate Park. The first was a family event Saturday morning to celebrate completion of the project. Monday night's event was the adult celebration, heavy in Burners, as devotees to Burning Man call themselves. Naga premiered there on the desert playa, or dry lake bed, last Labor Day weekend, and fans came out to say hello on Monday night.
'I've seen it on the playa, but with the water it looks different,' said Maggie Li, who wore a jacket of fake turquoise fur, though she said it was merely 'on theme, not trying to match Naga.' She and Lauren Klein had come from the Mission District with a full picnic dinner, which they laid out on the grassy shoulder of JFK Drive.
'It's beautiful to see the serpent protecting Golden Gate Park,' said Klein. 'It's a sacred place.'
Among the Burners in attendance were Sid and Karen Sijbrandij (pronounced, fittingly, as 'sea-brandy'), Dutch immigrants who were the lead sponsor of the sculpture through their philanthropy the Sijbrandij Foundation.
'We are aspiring to bring 100 pieces of big art to the city over the next three years,' said Sid, a 45-year-old software engineer who founded GitLab. To this end, he has partnered with art agency Building 180, and together they've installed eight works, including a 45-foot-tall wire mesh sculpture of a nude woman on the Embarcadero, and announced plans to add a dozen more installations on the San Francisco waterfront.
Sijbrandij, who contributed $250,000 toward the installation of Naga in the park, set his minimum as pieces that are at least 10 feet tall or wide. 'Big art is underappreciated,' he said. 'It is out there and it brings people together.'
He also only works with art that is already built and needs a second or third life, the first one usually being at Burning Man, which the Sijbrandis have attended five times. 'We focus on art that is in storage and nobody ever sees it,' Sijbrandi said.
He noted that while thousands may see an artwork on the Burning Man playa, millions will see an artwork in the city.
Naga is the last artwork you see moving west on the Golden Mile, a car-free stretch of Golden Gate Park that has been populated with public art curated by Illuminate. There are big yellow chairs along the way, and to promote it, Illuminate founder Ben Davis has taken to wearing only yellow. He did that Monday night as emcee for the event, while standing on a makeshift table, his yellow shoes and bandana offsetting a sea of aqua and turquoise. (The water that cascades from the 50-foot Rainbow Falls into the pond was its usual green to enhance the effect.)
'It's a privilege to come out and welcome this new icon to the 'City of Awe,' he said in his remarks, after 750 bubble wands were handed out to make the lighting participatory in the Burning Man spirit.
Roughgarden, resplendent in a brocaded pirate's overcoat and head ornament, made introductory comments, during which she reminded the crowd that the installation is still in progress. The full artwork, titled 'Naga and the Captainess,' includes a shipwreck with seating and a play area, which will be added later. A fundraiser is ongoing.
The crowd was far larger than anticipated, with some scampering up the hillside for an overlook. They had to wait for darkness on one of the few clear nights of what has been a foggy San Francisco summer.
At 8:45 p.m., ethereal music was pumping from the DJ booth as Roughgarden led a countdown from 10. The serpent's eyes suddenly glowed and pulsed, alternating green and purple, while bubbles poured from its nostrils. The lighting happened in stages from head to tail, and by 9 p.m. it was fully twinkling, 753 lights in total.
The LED scheme, by lighting designer Dan Rummel, is subtle enough that people who waited out on the JFK Promenade or on the grass on the far side of the street had to cross over and press up close to see the lights embedded in the serpent's scales and the reflection in the water. The paint job was by Tania Seabock.
'It's approachable and gentle and welcoming,' said Li, the picnicker who left her meal unattended to cross the street for an up-close look.
Karen Sijbrandij, who wore a twinkling vest, was also satisfied with the show, which is expected to go until midnight, seven days a week. The scheme is energy efficient and taps into the park's source of street lighting power.
'How amazing was that?' she said. 'The detail of the lighting is mesmerizing.'