West Seattle weekend scene: Mystery rock face

Don’t know how long ago this appeared on the southwest side of Myrtle Reservoir Park, but Giles – who sent the photos – is the first person who mentioned it to us. It’s near similar-sized boulders lining the edge of the buried reservoir, and on its side:

Looking up that word brings us here – ” shapeshifting water spirits in Germanic mythology and folklore.” (Certainly appropriate for one to “appear” over an underground reservoir.)

15 Replies to "West Seattle weekend scene: Mystery rock face"

  • J July 7, 2019 (5:55 pm)

    Fun!  I love it.

  • john July 7, 2019 (6:09 pm)

    I noticed it yesterday while walking our dog (who also wanted to ‘sign’  it).  I pondered it size, multi-man,  then assumed it was too heavy to move and someone must have chiseled it in place.   Surprising nobody noticed the activity?

  • Kevin July 7, 2019 (10:33 pm)

    Nice!  This is clever. It’s refreshing to have new art in West Seattle that isn’t in your face at seemingly every intersection and isn’t self-promoting the artists with their Instagram ID in big letters. 

  • wssz July 8, 2019 (12:51 am)

    Intense, powerful piece. Would be fascinating to hear from the artists who created it to know their story.  Way too heavy for even three strong people to move. Were there marks in the grass indicating how it was moved to its current location? 

  • Giles July 8, 2019 (5:09 am)

    We spent some time looking for evidence of how it appeared.  No tire marks.  No rock chips.  It appears to have come up through the ground.  As such, we are calling it ‘Dante,’ but that might be because I’m an English teacher.Yet another reason to love this place.

  • Chris July 8, 2019 (7:46 am)

    That is obviously the work of a troll. Probably living in a park or under a bridge in West Seattle. They like to do self portraits and place them around in the neighborhood.

    • Jethro Marx July 8, 2019 (10:06 am)

      Maybe it was a troll, and the dawn took him. The rest of him is probably submerged in the grass.

  • Patt July 8, 2019 (11:15 am)

    Cool piece. Trolls? maybe. Having lived in close proximity to artist colony infestation this looks like it needed to find a new home after a clean out… There are random pieces of rogue or phantom art all over Seattle, undocumented, no paper trail. But it will be loved that is its magic.

    • Brian Haigh July 8, 2019 (10:21 pm)

      I kinda don’t think so. The uncarved parts of the boulder match the other nearby boulders that were moved there after someone ruined the grass doing doughnuts a year or two ago. My partner is convinced that the boulder was in that location pre-carving, but I can’t say for sure.

      • patt July 20, 2019 (3:36 pm)

        Most granite around here comes from up by granite pass and has it own unique chemical makeup.  But has anyone considered that the whole neighborhood  may have taken a vow of silence ;-)

  • Yma July 9, 2019 (7:18 pm)

    Oh my – we’re going to have to pay a visit.thank you unknown artist!

  • anonyme July 10, 2019 (10:03 am)

    It would be difficult to clean up every shard and bit of stone dust had it been carved in place, but that seems the only likely option.  Granite is very hard to carve; most sculptors use power tools on granite.  That should have garnished some attention from the neighborhood!  It’s a mystery.  I do like the troll idea.  We’ve got a lot of them around here.

  • RS July 11, 2019 (6:08 am)

    I thought I was going crazy. I walk my dog right past there every single day. Then last week I saw this rock for the first time and questioned whether or not it was always there. The artist is gas lighting me! (kidding). It’s a very cool addition to the park. 

    • WSB July 11, 2019 (8:07 am)

      After Giles sent the photos, we went over to see exactly where it was.Then I checked Google Street View. Wasn’t there in the last update in October.

  • miws July 11, 2019 (8:39 am)

    How much weight can the typical drone handle? ;-) —-Mike

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