Anson Burlingame and the Principals of Eternal Justice
Washington Park, Burlingame, CA 2022
Project Description: John Roloff, Artist
Anson Burlingame and the Principals of Eternal Justice is an artwork created to pay tribute to the spirit of the City of Burlingame’s name sake, Anson Burlingame and his enduring legacy of justice for all people. The artwork is an evolution of a five-phase design process conducted from 2018 to 2022 by the artist and the project management team, Fung Collaboratives, in concert with the members of the Anson Burlingame Subcommittee and feedback from the Burlingame City Council and members of the public.
Initial, numerous, visits to greater Burlingame, time spent in and around the project site of Washington Park, both night and day, as well as research into the life and contribution of Anson Burlingame as a man and political leader generated a wide range of potential symbolic representations, explored visually and conceptually in Phase I and II studies, further developed and edited in Phase III, presented to the City Council for approval and feedback, leading to development and refinement in Phase IV and V.
The impressions of the project site in the park and the park itself were one of density, variable use, architectural structure and semi-pastoral maturity. The many, large, impressive trees of the park along with very large arena lights for the sports fields form an upper-level canopy and columnar structure. The integration of Burlingame High School and related sports and activity elements suggested an extended garden/campus/gymnasium analogous to ancient academies of systemic learning, practice and physical well-being. Anson Burlingame’s tenure as Ambassador to Qing dynasty China, his advocacy for social justice and his role as principal architect in the creation of the ground breaking 1868 Burlingame-Seward Treaty, seemed very much in-step with this interpretation of the site.
The catalyst for the concepts and design of this project is the text of the Burlingame Treaty as well as his writings and speeches as an ardent abolitionist. The project employs salient selections about social justice from the treaty and his oratory as a US Congressman. Extending Anson Burlingame’s spirit and concern for the treatment of humanity and the environment into present and future time are the inclusion of selected text by women, people of color and environmental thinkers suggested by the project committee.
Two portals placed along a major path through the wooded area of the park connecting Carolan Avenue with Burlingame High School enclose a space of mindful transit as well as viewer engagement and contemplation. The southern portal at the Carolan Avenue end of this space, visible from the Burlingame train station, of native wood, is reminiscent of the sensibility of Bernard Maybeck or Julia Morgan, in structure. In physical and conceptual proportion, at the northern end closest to the High School, is a painted wood portal inspired by a classic Chinese garden Moon gate. Next to each portal is a didactic panel with information about Anson Burlingame, the project’s intention and recognition of support. One panel is presented in English at the southern entrance and second one translated into Chinese at the northern entrance.
On the pathway within the space created by the portals, is a large, soft gray and green square knot path diagram – interwoven coloration that symbolizes the American/China relationship of the Burlingame Treaty, larger concepts of unity and purpose Anson Burlingame stood for, and a subtle infinity-like symbol standing for an expansive future of justice, human dignity and environmental stewardship. A series of benches on either side of the path have inscribed on their surface selected text that has inspired the entire project creating a space for conversation and reflection in the spirit of Anson Burlingame. The text selections in English on the benches brings the words of Anson Burlingame, Martin Luther King, Toni Morrison, Sojourner Truth, Mark Twain and Chief Joseph (Nez Pierce) into conversation and context of the project. As one walks down the knotted path (about 100 ft long), the spacing of the benches between the portals, each with their own but related content reflecting on the ideals of Anson Burlingame, is projected to create a synergistic flow and phrasing of thought for the viewer. From the direction of downtown Burlingame, through the Carolan Street Portal, the bench text is generally in descending historical order. From the direction of the High School, through Moon Gate Portal, the bench text is generally in ascending historical order. with Burlingame’s words and a selection from Mark Twain’s eulogy to Burlingame on the center benches. Sayings from two women of color, Sojourner Truth and Toni Morrison, anchor the text flow at opposite corners of the bench layout. The central placement of the text on the benches was purposeful. In order to sit on a bench, the viewer is asked to consider his, her or their relationship to the meaning and speaker of the text, to sit partially on it or to sit alongside it, thoughtfully.
The placement of the project containing salient text and symbolic cross-cultural resonance of human dignity, unity and the environment along the prominent Carolan Avenue/Burlingame High School path, highlights the relationship of education, ethics and a model of a holistic mind/body/nature ethos as a fitting interpretation of Anson Burlingame’s spirit and legacy.