Portland, Oregon, is living up to its reputation as an alternative-culture mecca with this new city-wide art commission: "The Acupuncture Project."

The website (full of pretty images of locations with 23-food-tall "needles" stuck in them) explains the project:

"Think of the city as a body the way traditional Chinese medicine does-- not only as a physical entity but also as a system of energy that flows in distinct pathways called meridians. The energy, or Qi, needs to be in balance. If a person's Qi is out of balance, disease can set in. The same could be true for a city. This project explores the junction between art, regional planning, the environment, Asian medicine and the health of a city."

The site has background about how the locations were picked. Here are some examples of the artist's correlations between body and city:

HEART (supreme controller, spirituality, connection to higher reality, ancestors)
mayor, religious institutions, cultural institutions, art, places for ritual, music and celebration, Native American & colonial history

SPLEEN (transportation and distribution, coursing and draining, primary healer)
mass transit, automobiles, roadways, commerce, healthcare

The stated goal is about as optimistic as they come: "By pinpointing Portland's health problems the project could increase public awareness of these issues, which may in turn lead to actual improvement's in the city's health."

It could! Or it could be exhibit A in skeptics' belief that the whole country has been overtaken by magical thinking.

The project has just begun, but the artist is hoping to "treat" the whole city.

We just feel bad for some of the houses in the photos with the needles towering outside their windows. How would you like to be told you lived in the city's small intestine?