Public Art

1
Public Art and Public Spacesa Year 12 Case Study
Donatellos Gattemelata 1445-1450 This sculpture
is at the start of a line of public sculpture
that commemorates the military hero as a man on
horseback. As a technical point, why do you
think that the horse has its foot on a ball?
2
Nelsons Column, London. This commemorates the
British admiral Horatio Nelson, who died at the
Battle of Trafalgar.
3
Maggi Hambling A conversation with Oscar Wilde
1998 This sculpture was installed near Trafalgar
Square in London and has become a popular fixture
in London. In what ways is it different to
traditional representations of important people?
4
Ron Robertson Swan - Vault 1980
5
Ron Robertson Swann - Vault 1980http//www.theag
e.com.au/articles/2002/10/02/1033538671587.html
http//www.artwrite.cofa.unsw.edu.au/9918/carson.
html
6
Ron Robertson-Swan - Vault 1980

• Vault was installed in Melbournes Swanston
  Street square in 1980. It was commissioned and
  designed for that specific site.
• It was unpopular with the public and was removed
  after 2 years. It was then sited in the riverside
  Batman Park.
• The artist had no say on the re-siting of the
  artwork.
• This decision to override the selection
  committee's decision horrified the members of the
  arts industry. Architecture critic, Norman Day,
  asked the question 'Do we allow untrained,
  ill-informed, mediocre judgments to guide our
  artistic and architectural taste, or are we a
  more refined community?' (Day 1980)
• It is now sited outside the Australian Centre for
  Contemporary Art at Southbank now considered a
  prime site for the display of sculpture.

7
Wwhy do we need public art? What is its
role?Some comments by Ron Robertson-Swann

• "I think if it's good, it enriches," says
  Robertson-Swann.
• "You need to step outside of your own prejudices
  and tastes and comfort zones and everything else,
  in order to 'get' it. And I think that that is
  one of the most civilizing of all processes.
• "It's there and free for everyone to see, and do
  if, if they want. If they'd prefer to go to the
  footy, absolutely fine, good on 'em."

8
Tilted Arc - Richard Serra, 1981, sculpture,
steel, New York City (destroyed).
9
Tilted Arc - Richard Serra, 1981, sculpture,
steel, New York City (destroyed).
10
Richard Serra Tilted Arc, 1981

• In 1981, artist Richard Serra installs his
  sculpture Tilted Arc, the U.S. General Services
  Administration in Federal Plaza in New York
  City.
• The sculpture generates controversy as soon as it
  is erected, and Judge Edward Re begins a
  letter-writing campaign to have the 175,000 work
  removed. Estimates for the cost of dismantling
  the work are 35,000, with an additional 50,000
  estimated to erect it in another location.
• Richard Serra testifies that the sculpture is
  site-specific, and that to remove it from its
  site is to destroy it. If the sculpture is
  relocated, he will remove his name from it.
• Serra commented at the time "I don't think it is
  the function of art to be pleasing. Art is not
  democratic. It is not for the people."

11
Richard Serra Tilted Arc, 1981

• The public hearing is held in March 1985. During
  the hearing, 122 people testify in favour of
  retaining the sculpture, and 58 testify in favour
  of removing it. The art establishment -- artists,
  museum curators, and art critics -- testify that
  Tilted Arc is a great work of art.
• Those against the sculpture, for the most part
  people who work at Federal Plaza, say that the
  sculpture interferes with public use of the
  plaza.
• They also accuse it of attracting graffiti, rats,
  and terrorists who might use it as a blasting
  wall for bombs.
• The jury of five, chaired by William Diamond,
  vote 4-1 in favour of removing the sculpture.
• Serra's appeal of the ruling fails. On March 15,
  1989, during the night, federal workers cut
  Tilted Arc into three pieces, remove it from
  Federal Plaza, and cart it off to a scrap-metal
  yard.
• http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/flashpoints/v
  isualarts/tiltedarc.html

12
Rachel Whiteread, "House", London 1993
1994http//www.artistsineastlondon.org/frameset
.htm
13
Rachel Whiteread, "House", London 1993 1994 (the
original site)
14
Rachel Whiteread, "House", London 1993 1994
(work in progress).
15
Rachel Whiteread, "House", London 1993 1994 (the
completed work).
16
Rachel Whiteread, "House", London 1993 1994 (the
vacated site).
17
Rachel Whiteread, "House", London 1993 1994

• On October 25th 1993, after 2 years of planning
  and preparation, Rachel Whiteread completed her
  in-situ 'cast' of the interior space of a
  Victorian terraced house - 193 Grove Road in Bow,
  E3.
• The timetable was very tight. After various
  delays Whiteread and her team prepared for
  casting from August 2nd, new foundations were
  laid on August 30th and the process of gunnite
  spraying began on September 5th. From October
  12th the walls began to be removed and the
  project was completed, successfully, on October
  25th.
• On November 23rd a number of key events coincided
  which were to cause an explosion of media
  interest. At 2pm, the K Foundation awarded
  Whiteread their prize of 40,000 for the 'worst'
  artist in Britain. At 7.30pm Bow Neighbourhood
  demanded the immediate demolition of House and
  at 9.30pm Whiteread was awarded the 1993 Turner
  Prize, broadcast live from the Tate Gallery on
  Channel 4 Television.

18
Rachel Whiteread, House", London 1993 1994

• The confrontation between the local authority and
  Whiteread became very public and adversarial. On
  the 26th, an early day motion was tabled in the
  House of Commons by Michael Gordon MP and Hugh
  Bayley MP congratulating Whiteread on winning the
  Turner Prize and calling upon Tower Hamlets to
  allow a time extension so that more people could
  see the work and to consult with local people as
  to whether it should be destroyed.
• A petition of 3,500 signatures collected on site
  in 12 hours supporting an extension was countered
  by 800 signatures urging its destruction.
• On December 10th Bow Neighbourhood agreed in
  principle to an extension to January 12th 1994
  and, 3 days before Christmas, this was finally
  approved by Cllr. Flounders. On January 11th
  House was demolished.

19
Edge of the Trees by Fiona Foley and Janet
LawrenceSydney 1994
20
Edge of the Trees by Fiona Foley and Janet
Lawrence
21
Edge of the Trees by Fiona Foley and Janet
Lawrence

• 29 sandstone, wood and steel pillars, oxide,
  hair, shells, bones, ash, seeds, spinifex resin
  and honey.Museum of Sydney (forecourt)
• From the edge of the trees the Cadigal people
  watched as the strangers of the First Fleet
  struggled ashore in 1788.  We can only imagine
  what their thoughts would have been.  This
  sculptural installation by artists Janet Laurence
  and Fiona Foley symbolises that first encounter.
• http//www.artwrite.cofa.unsw.edu.au/0020/2020_pag
  es/Salvestro_Janet_Laurence.html
• http//www.anat.org.au/nisnma/blackout/artists/fol
  ey.htm
• http//www.hht.nsw.gov.au/collection/new_collectio
  n_overview/museum_of_sydney

22
Alison Lapper Pregnantby Marc Quinn
1994 Installed in Trafalgar Square, London 2005.
23

• The sculpture is a portrait of Alison Lapper when
  she was 8½ months pregnant. It is to be carved
  out of one block of white marble and would stand
  4.7 metres high.
• Ms Lapper is an artist herself, who was born in
  1965 with no arms and very short legs, the result
  of a congenital disorder called phocomelia. She
  took a first class honours degree from the
  University of Brighton in 1994. Her degree show
  installation included photographs of herself as a
  child wearing the artificial limbs which she now
  shuns. She has since exhibited in group shows and
  solo exhibitions.

Marc Quinn with the maquette for Alison Lapper
Pregnant
24

• OPINIONS
• The public may be shocked, embarrassed or
  titillated by the monumental statue which will
  soon appear on the empty plinth in Trafalgar
  Square. The model is not Alison Lapper says her
  portrait, by the artist Marc Quinn, is "naked,
  pregnant and proud".
• In the past, heroes such as Nelson conquered the
  outside world. Now it seems to me they conquer
  their own circumstances and the prejudices of
  others, and I believe that Alison's portrait will
  symbolise this. Marc Quinn

"I'm extremely proud that one of the most popular
tourist attractions in London will display a very
powerful sculpture of a disabled woman.
Congratulations to Marc for realising that
disabled bodies have a power and beauty rarely
recognised in an age where youth and 'perfection'
are idolised." Bert Massie, the chairman of The
Disability Rights Commission "At first glance it
would seem that there are few if any public
sculptures of people with disabilities. However a
closer look reveals that Trafalgar Square is one
of the few public spaces where one exists.
Nelson, on top of his column, has lost an arm ...
Nelson's Column is the epitome of a phallic male
monument and I felt that the square needed some
femininity. Marc Quinn
25

• Quinn made a classically surreal work early in
  his career - his 1991 cast of his own head in
  frozen blood - but where the crassness of that
  comes off, most of his work is just too singular
  to add up to more than a glib talking point. Can
  you tell me in a sentence what Alison Lapper
  Pregnant is about? Now do the same for
  Michelangelo's Slaves.
• Quinn's Trafalgar Square work uses "traditional"
  materials and techniques. This is superficially
  clever. By representing a disabled person in
  marble he points out the hierarchies at work in
  traditional sculpture - all those perfect
  classical bodies - and subverts the great
  tradition, democratises it.

.this is one sculpture that wants to be
crapped on, and that is very wise. I'm not sure
the Fourth Plinth needs art on it. Why do we need
public art, anyway? We need art, but that can
appear anywhere. It is not better because more of
us see it. The problem with public art is that it
implies public control. The public gets what the
public wants. Jonathan Jones The Guardian
Tuesday March 16, 2004
26
Some questions about public art

• What elements determine successful public
  art? Do public artworks play a role in a
  tourist industry? How do you think
  international visitors see Australia's public
  artworks? Is art that has been made according
  to consensus, art or design? What is the
  difference between art and design? Should the
  architects who design our city buildings be
  encouraged to design the sculptures for the
  city's public spaces as well? What is the
  difference between an architect and an artist?
  Is art necessary for public places? Is it
  possible to ensure that the art in public places
  appeals to everyone?

27
Some questions about public art -2

• Should there be legislation that requires
  public advertising to meet an aesthetic standard?
  If so, who should decide what this is?
• Should the art in public spaces represent the
  very best of Australian art even if it is
  disliked or not understood by the general public?
• Why were the opinions of Melbourne's general
  public and councillors different from the
  representatives of the art industry? Who
  should choose the art for a city's public spaces?
  Should the general public be asked to try
  something new that they don't like or
  understand? How do you think people perceive
  The Vault today?

28
Some questions about public art -2

• Do you think the Melbourne public would have
  accepted the new freeway sculptures 20 years ago?
  Why do some people approve of governments
  spending large amounts of money on public art and
  some do not? Is public art necessary for public
  health? Is it better to have a lot of smaller
  works of public art rather than one great big
  one? What do you think is the purpose of the
  public art that is displayed in the central
  business district of any major city?
• Use these points as the basis for an essay
  expressing your opinions on these issues.