''Mimir'' is an outdoor

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and concrete sculpture by

Keith Jellum Keith Jellum is an American artist based in Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Por ...

, installed in northwest

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, United States. The 1980 sculpture was commissioned by the Portland Development Commission and Tom Walsh of Tom Walsh Construction, and is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the

Regional Arts & Culture Council The Regional Arts & Culture Council (RACC) is an organization that administers arts grants in Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas Counties that also do advocacy in the Portland metropolitan area in Oregon, United States. It evolved from the city� ...

Description and history

''Mimir'' is an

and concrete sculpture designed by Portland artist

, whose other works in the city include '' Electronic Poet'' (1984) and ''

Transcendence Transcendence, transcendent, or transcendental may refer to: Mathematics * Transcendental number, a number that is not the root of any polynomial with rational coefficients * Algebraic element or transcendental element, an element of a field exten ...

'', a fish sculpture above

Southpark Seafood Southpark Seafood is a seafood restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Description Southpark Seafood serves seafood in downtown Portland. The menu includes oysters on the half shell. Keith Jellum's bronze sculpture of a fish, ''Transcendence'', is ins ...

at Southwest Salmon Street and Ninth Avenue. ''Mimir'' is based on the figure of the same name in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

, renowned for his knowledge and wisdom, and who is beheaded during the

Æsir–Vanir War In Norse mythology, the Æsir–Vanir War was a conflict between two groups of deities that ultimately resulted in the unification of the Æsir and the Vanir into a single pantheon. The war is an important event in Norse mythology, and the implica ...

. Afterward, the god

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

carries around Mímir's head, which serves as an oracle and recites secret knowledge and counsel to him. Jennifer Anderson of the ''

Portland Tribune The ''Portland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched in ...

'' said the sculpture is a "combination of Norse mythology, gibberish, fish and space creature". In 2007, Jellum recalled of its origin: "I'm not sure where

he image He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...

came from. It's just at the time I was doing a whole lot of drawings, and it just popped out and sort of appealed to me. It's part fish, part space creature." ''Mimir'' was installed at Northwest 27th Avenue between Northwest Upshur and Thurman Streets in 1980, after being commissioned by the Portland Development Commission and Tom Walsh of Tom Walsh Construction. The abstract sculpture measures approximately x x , which rests on a concrete and stone base that measures x x . The

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

described the work as follows: "Decorative obelisk with a mask mounted at the top. The mask has a cone-like nose and tusks. It wears a layered breastplate with shoulder pads." The base includes a plaque with no legible text. Anderson described the plaque as "a few lines of illegible chicken scratch as if it's an alien artifact that landed in the middle of the city." Jellum described the hieroglyphic inscription as a "play upon plaques", explaining: "You see all these plaques around and they give all this 'important' information. I thought it was just irrelevant to the piece. I like the idea of putting something up there that didn't have any information on it." The sculpture's condition was deemed "treatment needed" by Smithsonian's "

Save Outdoor Sculpture! Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!) was a community-based effort to identify, document, and conserve outdoor sculpture in the United States. The program was initiated in 1989 and ended in 1999. History Save Outdoor Sculpture! was initiated by Herit ...

" program in October 1993. It is part of the City of Portland and Multnomah County Public Art Collection courtesy of the

Reception

Anderson of the ''Portland Tribune'' contributor called the sculpture a "curiosity" and "whimsical", and said the plaque adds to its mystique.

References

{{Portal bar, Mythology, Oregon, Visual arts 1980 establishments in Oregon 1980 sculptures Abstract sculptures in Oregon Bronze sculptures in Oregon Sculptures of Norse mythology Northwest District, Portland, Oregon Outdoor sculptures in Portland, Oregon Sculptures of gods

Description and history

Reception

See also

References