What's that 'giant doughnut' at Point Fermin Park in San Pedro?

If the goal of public art is to get people talking, then Michael Parker has succeeded.

His boulder-like installation at Point Fermin Park on Monday drew speculation as parkgoers who tued out for a Pokemon Go event stopped to ponder the piece.

“I have no idea what that is,” said Matthew Rodriguez of San Pedro.

“It looks like a doughnut,” said Mark McHugh of Rancho Palos Verdes.

Several people slapped it, surprised at how solid it was.

The temporary outdoor art piece created by Parker, who teaches sculpture at Cal State Long Beach, is titled “The Ides (arch du triumph) mapped by Vi Ha” and is made out of sturdy, cardboard shipping boxes stapled together and still bearing their labels and instructions: “Handle with care,” “Red Star Made in China,” “Keep frozen,” “Chiquita Plantains,” and “This side up.”

It’s secured with plywood and wrapped around one of the bench shelters overlooking the ocean at San Pedro’s scenic bluff-top park, framing a scene to the east of the breakwater and ships coming into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, where 40 percent of the nation’s imported goods enter the country.

Parker, a Los Angeles resident, explains in a video that the piece is designed to showcase the power of corporations and technology. He worked with a small team and a $20,000 budget that was used for installation costs, including equipment and labor.

“Today’s empires are not countries but corporations and giant businesses that are so large that the individual gets lost,” the artist said in the video.

Once she heard the explanation, Dalila Rivera of San Pedro said: “Oh, now I see it.”

In an interview, Parker, 37, said the inspiration for the piece goes back several years to when he was working on an ambulance crew out of Carson. A call brought him to the port, where, at the time, a lockout had brought shipping traffic to a halt.

“That was my first visceral understanding of just how complicated our world was,” he said.

While some observers who tued out Saturday to meet the artist were initially critical, he said they “were smiling” by the end of his talk. The process of creating the project is documented on Parker’s Instagram page, under @mmichaelparkerr.

Citywide art displays

The cardboard-and-shipping-labels display is one of 15 temporary public art installations throughout the city of Los Angeles — one in each City Council district — that will be in place through mid-August under what is the inaugural year for the Current L.A. program.

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The program was funded by a $1 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies and pulled together by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs in conjunction with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office.

The sites were chosen for their coection to the program’s theme of water, said Auy Bathe, who is handling publicity for the program.

After it went up in mid-July, the San Pedro artwork — popularly nicknamed “the giant doughnut” by some locals — sparked several debates on social media.

Some like it.

“My grandkids loved it,” said JoAa Tafoya in a Facebook post.

“They need to plaster it and keep it here,” said Yvette Suarez of San Pedro, who was checking it out on Monday and said her artist son would also appreciate it.

Others complained that it’s is unsightly and obstructs the ocean views.

“It looks like trash,” posted another member of the Point Fermin Facebook page, Mike Leonardo. “It’s an eyesore!”

It’s meaning initially escaped most who guessed it was meant to be a commentary on the homeless or recycling.

One thing is certain: The eye-catching sculpture has succeeded in generating plenty of debate.

“Like it or hate it, we got the neighbors talking about art,” posted Bob Milling of San Pedro.

And that, he said, is good.

The piece can be viewed through Aug. 15 near the lighthouse in Point Fermin Park, 807 W. Paseo del Mar, San Pedro.