SAN DIEGO — A hiker at Chollas Lake Park didn't know what to think when his dog discovered a face staring back at them from the trees. In this Zevely Zone, I went to the lake and dove into a mystery. Park-goer Bob Couey thought somebody must have snuck into the park, carved this sculpture and flown the coup. Everyone loves a good mystery, but Bob was stumped by this one.
"I see this really cool sculpture with a duck sculpture on top," said Bob. As he continued to walk around Chollas Lake, "I saw another one and then another one and then I finally ran into the guys," said Bob who bumped into the well-known artistic team known as Brian and Ryan.
About a year ago, Brian and Ryan started leaving their works of wonder for park goers to discover. "There are a lot that are on the path and there are some that you have to come down into the path to find," said Brian Black. "There are a lot of faces, we've got a couple of chairs over here that we did." The city of San Diego commissioned Brian and Ryan to participate in its Park Social program. "I think the ultimate goal in this project is for the audience to be kind of shocked out of their daily routine," said Ryan Bulis.
The goal of the project is to create an oasis in the middle of a city and a little mystique never hurts. "When people discover them, they are kind of inquisitive and say what's this and what's going on here," said City of San Diego Park Ranger Najja Lyon. "It's been really great for the park; it gives the park visitors just that little something extra. You can make games with it like how many can you find?"
Brian and Ryan want to make it clear; they don't cut trees down. If you live in San Diego County, you know that eucalyptus trees are not indigenous to the area.
They have very shallow roots balls which means sometimes they have to be trimmed or chopped down they don't fall down on someone. Instead of staring at ugly stumps, park visitors see cut down trees that tell a story. "We've been collecting stories," said Brian. The art duo has placed story collection boxes around the lake and it's the public's ideas that inspire the carvings.
"It adds a lot because they are fun to look at," said Bob Couey. "I can see the smiles on people's faces as they are walking along and they are going oh look at this, this is really cool. I just think it's a great fun thing to do."
Brian and Ryan will host an ice cream social on October 8th at Chollas Lake Park to thank the community for its participation. Their project wraps up on October 20th.
Watch more Zevely Zone content below: