Eli Brown's "Beam Me Down"

Now + There’s Public Art Accelerator Artist Eli Brown premieres Beam Me Down, a public art installation of an unidentified flying object (UFO), at LoPresti Park jetty, a former tidal flat in East Boston. The sculpture’s design blends the qualities of a UFO and a shell, and is steered by a selection of hermaphroditic tidal animals such as oysters and barnacles. An accompanying comic book is co-illustrated by the artist and young East Boston residents. The work will open July 13 and on view through Dec. 2022.

Beam Me Down is meant to play on the power and wonder of the unknown and asks viewers to consider relationships with some of the smallest animals that sustain life at the water’s edge and what they can teach about navigating rising seas. It is one of several installations that will be going up this summer as part of Now + There’s Accelerator program, bringing site-specific, temporary public art works to all neighborhoods of Boston.