Archives for 2007

I don't type much about my professional work, but I have managed some public art programs and curated some exhibitions. Through this leadership, I have attempted to find the unique artistic forms of a community and celebrate them. "Artform of a community" could mean 1.) work by special local artists, 2.) visual art appreciated by at least one sub-culture group, and 3.) other locally appreciated … [Read more...]

Channel 4 in the London is sponsoring a series of public art projects: A mobile phone mob blog, seven new public artworks on viewer nominated sites and the Big 4 below. (From the Channel 4 Website ) Channel 4 is bringing its '4' logo to life in a major public art commission linked to the Big Art Project. In the run up to the Channel's 25th anniversary on 2nd November (2007), a 50 foot-high metal … [Read more...]

Sharon Louden at Yahoo Headquarters: New Lawn and Louden's grasses In the last month, the arts blogasphere including Artsjournal.com has been buzzing with the damage and lawsuits regarding two landscapes: "Wildflower Works" by Chapman Kelley in Chicago and "Reflecting Tips" by Sharon Louden in Sunnyvale, California. The basic information and newsclippings are at Edward Winkleman's Blog. The … [Read more...]

On July 26, 2007, a bronze sculpture of young Elvis Presley was installed in Honolulu. The life-size figure is the sixth and final "TV LAND" donations to the citizens of NYC, Minneapolis, Salem (MA.), Chicago and Raleigh (N.C.). Except for Elvis, the artworks depict actors in their roles as popular characters from television shows of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. All are displayed in the actual … [Read more...]

In the comments for a previous blog, Margaret Koscielny wrote: "Public Art" is an oxymoron; just like "Computer Art." Weiss responds: "Art can be privately discovered by the artist and be meaningful to others, therefore "Public Art" Margaret Koscielny ellaborated: (Koscielny Website) "I feel that "Public Art", as a term, is an oxymoron. Perhaps the solution is to allow public sentiment for … [Read more...]

It is completely unfair to everyone involved at Mass MOCA to describe the removal of Christoph Buchel's exhibition an act of censorship this fall. No single human being unilaterally ordered the destruction of a work of art before it was presented to the public, but that is exactly what happened. (Just quickly, due to extensive cost overruns and schedule delays, Mass MOCA asked the courts of … [Read more...]

Slate dumbs down the public art dialogue. Some new mover and shaker with connections named Dushko Petrovich has done public art a disservice manipulating history. But I do understand why Artsjournal Book/Daddy thinks this Slate.com article on public art is interesting. The language and methods of connections to other contemporary thoughts is sparkling. BLOG UPDATE: SEE "comments section" FOR … [Read more...]

All My Works Are A Form Of Wishing Yoko Ono Blogger and journalist Mary Louise Schumacher at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote she was "cranky" this week about "Public Relations" stealing the artistic mission of public art. "Visit Milwaukee" will commission a bronze statue of "the Fonz" from the 1970s TV show "Happy Days". Apparently, Milwaukee is copying a TV Land project that donated bronze … [Read more...]

Not to keep the nun theme alive, but yesterday the Boston newspapers reported that the new owner of the Boston Gas Tanks painted by Corita Kent in 1971 would be preserved. The original tank was demolished in 1992, but the owner at that time - KeySpan - repainted another tank. Ms. Kent was an anti-war nun until 1967 when she left her Catholic order and her position as head of the art department at … [Read more...]

In 1988, Philippine Duchesne was canonized by Pope John Paul II. She is one of only six American saints: five nuns and one bishop. An organizer of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in France, she was granted her dream to serve as missionary in the USA in 1817. Traveling up the French Catholic Mississippi to St. Charles, Missouri, she founded the first Sacred Heart house in the USA. At the end of … [Read more...]

My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. I said I wouldn't, dammit: No tears. I'm stone. I'm flesh. First 5 Lines "Facing It", Yusef Komunyakaa, 2001 Komunyakaa wrote the poem at national Vietnam War Memorial. Its polished granite also reflects the white Washington Monument, a strange object of Masonic symbolism at the political heart of America. The Egyptian obelisk was reborn in … [Read more...]

Conflux takes me back. Those days in your 20s when engaging people on the street was so powerful. You need a break from the white walls. Time to put art out there with a lot of other artists out there. For a month ahead of time, you talk with your friends and quasi-friends about your plans. On the day, you set up and go. Something a little strange happens with the non-art people. They say … [Read more...]