Monday, 13 April 2009

Public Art

Public art is art that is site specific to the public domain. The benifits of this medium is that it can communicate with everybody regardless of their interests and background. People who wouldnt normally visit an art gallery are forced to have an interaction with it. However, i find this form of art quite soulless. I have seen so many pieces of public art that have been put up in a new shopping plaza or redevelopment of an area. The planners seem to think that by putting one of these pieces of art in (usually a clean, shiney metal sculpture), the area or building will have prestige. It reminds me of a rich businessman buying a piece of art just because its art to look cultured when he most probably has no idea what the piece is about. Saying this though, there are of course decent examples public art out there. But why do these artist have a fixation with using metal sculptures? I have no idea. They should really try something else. I said earlier on that people have to communicate with the work, beacuase its there, in your face. But i dont think i really interact with it. Because i dont see any reason behind it, i just look at it- and the communication stops at aesthitcs. I think a good example of a piece where the audience is enticed to interact with it is 'Cloud Gate' (also known as the bean) by Anish Kapoor. This is a hugely popular piece in Chicago, and people can help to go up to it and see their distorted reflection. The artist has really thought about the piece as it reflects the area its in both sences of the word. A similar piece in Clarence Dock, Leeds also intrigues the audience which leads them to investigate. The interesting use of the material suggests the reflective qualities of the water behind, and the curious child is mimicing the audience. I think it is important not just to think about the audience but the surroundings of a piece of site spefic work.

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