Public Art: Love it or hate it!
By Richard White, October 30, 2013
This blog was written for the Calgary Herald's Insight section and published on Saturday, October 26th with the title: "Public Art best when it spurs debate." I have added different photos with text to help illustrate the essay.
When is comes to public art, it seems everyone has a love or hate opinion. The love/hate debate raised its ugly head recently with the installation of “Travelling Light” aka the “Blue Circle” on the Airport Trail bridge at Deerfoot Trail. This time the debate is not just the usual conservative vs. liberal community dichotomy, but also within the arts community as well with respected artist/curator Jeffrey Spalding and Mayor Nenshi (both arts champions) have publicly stating they don’t like it.
Debate aside, I think most would agree public art enhances the urban environment when done right. However, doing it right is difficult and subjective. Having served on numerous public art juries over the past 30 years, I know how hard juries try to find an artist who can create an artwork that will capitalize on the place where it will be installed, as well as engage the public in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, juries are not always successful. No city has found a formula to guarantee every piece of public art will be critically acclaimed by professions and adored by the public.
Cloud Gate by Anish Kapoor is one of two major public artworks in Chicago's Millennium Park that attracts thousands of visitors everyday. There are successful because they capture the public's imagination and allow them to interact with them. They are fun!
I recently began serving on a City of Calgary public art jury and it was the most professional, rigorous and open jury process I have experienced. We were given the applications weeks in advance to independently review, then spent an entire day discussing them as a group before choosing three artists to submit more in-depth, site-specific proposals. In the new year, the same process will be repeated to choose the artist and artwork. It should be noted the jury note only has equitable representation from the two communities impacted, the City and art professionals but despite the diverse backgrounds, our three short-listed choices were unanimous.
I smiled when the debate regressed to “why wasn’t a local artist chosen?” Local artists were invited to submit their portfolio, but were not chosen. That is how the process works, like any RFP (Request For Proposals) process that most Calgarians have experienced at one time or another. I believe it is important local artists are given a chance to submit, but I don’t think we should limit our public art solely to local artists. Artists from other cities and countries see our city differently and more objectively adding new dimensions to our understanding of our sense of place.
Wonderland by famous Spanish artist Jaume Plensa is a wire sculpture of the head of a young girl on the plaza in front of the Bow office tower by renown architect Norman Foster. This ghost-like representational figure piece has been widely praised by professionals and public. It is a fun piece to go inside and look at the downtown skyline through the maze of lines created by the skull form. One local businessman, in his street shoes and clothes decided to climb it, turning it into a playground climbing sculpture for adults.
Similarly Calgary artists are often creating public art for other cities. Calgary’s Derek Besant, for example has numerous pieces in New York City, Toronto and Edmonton, as well as Calgary. Calgary artists and the public are served best when we have open competitions for public art.
As a member of Calgary’s arts community in many different capacities, I am well aware of the ongoing debate re: the need, value and role of public art. Historically, public art has been something found mostly in the downtown as part of new public buildings or office buildings. Over the past 30 years, downtown Calgary has become an art park with100+ sculptures, murals and paintings commissioned for plazas, parks, sidewalks, lobbies, LRT stations and +15 walkways.
My favourite public art project was the “Colourful Cows for Calgary” in summer 2000 which saw 100+ cows (painted by professionals and amateurs) temporarily placed throughout the downtown (including one in the lagoon at Prince’s Island). I believe it was the city’s most successful public art project because it captured the public’s imagination and engaged thousands of people to venture downtown to see and discuss the statements each cow made about Calgary’s sense of place. Yet there were some who thought it was too populist.
Utterly Art: Colourful Cows For Calgary took place in the summer of 2000, with 100+ cows being placed in parks, plazas, sidewalks and even in the Prince's Island lagoon. The project capture the imagination of Calgarians young and old. It add a lot of fun to the downtown's sense of place that summer. Several of the cows can be found in the Legacy Pasture on the second floor of the Centennial Parkade on 9th Avenue SW.
To me, public art must engage the public. It must motivate them to think outside their everyday box and look at the world we share in a different way. The best public art I have encountered has always been a “pedestrian” experience where people can stop, interact with the art, reflect on it, discuss it with friends and take pictures in close proximity. One of the reasons most Calgarians love William McElcheran’s two businessmen “Conversation” on Stephen Avenue is that you can walk right up to it, view it at different angles and relate it to the real businessmen walking the street.
On the other hand, “Travelling Light” doesn’t allow you to walk around or through it; it’s a drive by art experience. Yes, there will be a public pathway in the area, but even then you will still only see it from a distance. This is not a good public art location.
Similarly, I have questioned the location of Julian Opie’s (British) Promenade 2012 next to the Fifth Avenue flyover bridge in East Village. It too is mainly a “drive by” experience. A great piece, but it would be more engaging if placed on the sidewalk in East Village or along Riverwalk where pedestrians could interact with it.
In contrast Ron Moppett’s (Calgary) 33 meter long by 4 meter high ceramic mural on the retaining wall for the LRT tracks only a block away from Opie’s piece is far more successful partly because pedestrians are invited to sit and ponder the piece in a comfortable setting. Good public art has a synergy between the art, its surroundings and the pedestrian.
William McElcheran's bronze sculpture of two business men in conversation is on the sidewalk of downtown's Stephen Avenue Walk, pedestrian mall where it is viewed by thousands of pedestrians every day. Often people will add scarfs, a cup of coffee or other items to the piece. It is a popular photo op for tourist.
Julian Opie's video is placed on a plinth next to the 5th Avenue Flyover exit from downtown. The video is of people of all ages and backgrounds walking quickly around the cube. It is an attractive piece but would me more effective if place next to the sidewalk so pedestrians could interact with it.
In 2004, the City of Calgary adopted a “1% for public art for all City capital projects: policy. As a result, public art is now popping up everywhere - from LRT stations to recreation centers and yes, even bridges. Calgarians, more than ever, are experiencing public art as part of their everyday experience so it is not surprising they are also commenting on it. Debate is healthy and I am glad Calgarians care enough about their city’s evolving sense of place to comment.
The time to judge a work of art is not 10 days, not 10 weeks but 10 years after it is installed (the Eiffel Tower was hated at first). It will be interesting to see in 2023 what Calgarians think of “Travelling Light” versus say “Wonderland” (the “child’s head” sculpture on the plaza of the Bow office tower) or the Peace Bridge.
I believe the majority of Calgary’s new public art projects have been well received and I don’t believe the selection process is flawed. Urban design and creating Calgary’s unique sense of place is an ongoing experiment. We should not be surprised that some of our “experiments” in public art, architecture and public space design fail to please everyone. However we should learn something from every experiment on how best to link our diverse visions with the reality as we transform space into place.
This is the infamous "Travelling Light" sculpture which is a functioning lamppost on the bridge over the railway tracks next to Deerfoot Trail, Calgary's busiest freeway and at the gateway to the Calgary Airport. (photo: Calgary Herald)
If you like this blog you might like:
The rise of public art / The decline of public galleries
Crown Fountain is Jaume Plensa's signature public artwork in Chicago's Millennium Park. Even into the evening hundreds of people of all ages are playing in the water and glow of the artwork. This is public art at its best.
A few blocks away from Millennium Park are several signature public artworks (Picasso) that sit on plaza's in front of office buildings. While there were highly popular when installed over 30 years ago, today they are just part of the urban landscape. Is this the fate of all public art?