The Burning Man Veteran Michael Christian has officially Placed his Roots on the Embarcadero’s Big Art Loop with Corpus

Cameron and I were returning from the Ferry Building and noticed the curious, concerning, but comforting Corpus.

Corpus is one of three of Christian’s works that have made it to the Bay Area and his second sculpture trail alongside Bloom. The other sculpture Asterpod which is permanently in Richmond. Michael Christian has been a staple Burning Man artist for over 26 years. When researching for this article, I didn’t realize how many famous and iconic sculptures are his — I’m thrilled we have one of his pieces right now in the city.

There is the plaque that accompanies Corpus at its base with some information about the work, you can read it here for your viewing pleasure below:

Michael Christian

Corpus, 2019

Steel

8’ L x 10’ H x 13’ W

Corpus rises like a form emerging from the sea, an exploration of balance, weight, and the meeting of organic gesture with industrial steel. Shaped through an intuitive, improvisational process, the work reflects the human drive to find order within shifting currents. Its scale and presence recall both the fragility of the body and the endurance of material.

The title, meaning “body”, speaks to multiple layers — the human figure, the body of community, and the body of experience. Corpus exists as a vessel for encounter, where each viewer’s imagination completes the work.

This temporary installation is part of Big Art Loop — Portside and made possible through the support of Sijbrandij Foundation in partnership with Building 180 and the Port of San Francisco.

I haven’t stopped thinking about this sculpture since I first gazed upon it. With that, I’ve also been torn up about Corpus especially lately because of the graffiti someone left on one of its legs.

“Fucking eye-sore.”

This one stuck with me because everyone around me while looking at this sculpture was wondering just what it is, but no grace for its connection or joy for its sake of togetherness.

Why would the body of experience, the body of community, and therefore the body of humanity ever be considered an eye-sore? Corpus is a being with many layers and ideas that make it beautiful. Corpus is not the being herself that makes the sculpture beautiful, but what she means to walk this earth. Corpus is not possible without her fountain of stories and her cascading steel layers connecting each piece.

One does not simply view Corpus, they feel Corpus.

How to Visit Corpus

You can use any Muni or BART Train that services the Embarcadero station, then exit the station and make your way down Market Street to the Embarcadero portion of the San Francisco Bay Trail. You will see the historic Ferry Station Post Office and Corpus resting right beside it.

Corpus can also be visited before departing or after disembarking any of the ferries that service the station, that’s actually how we stumbled upon it.

For my bus crew, the 14, 14R, and the N Owl stop on Steuart and Mission is a block away from Corpus.

For my Tourists and Historic Homies! Take the Historic Streetcar on the F line to Don Chee Way and Steuart Street right in front of the SF Railway Museum.

Capturing Michael Christian’s Corpus on The Embarcadero

The Burning Man Veteran Michael Christian has officially Placed his Roots on the Embarcadero’s Big Art Loop with Corpus