Regina Hackett takes her Art to Go
Tyler Green”s posts on this subject ( here, here and here), continue to stay with me, partly because I meant to suggest a few but didn’t get around to it.
Wesley Wehr. Neah Bay, 1971. 2.4 x 3.5 inches. Palm-sized moody romance.
Jason D’Aquino. Pencil on matchbooks and paint on ice cream sticks
Rachel Maxi. You could carry an exhibit of her oils in your pocket.
In the old days, prone figures signaled sleep, death or sex. There were exceptions, but not many.
The drowsing, recently demised and sexually aroused are still with us, predictably horizontal.
Jeff Koons
But multiple meanings have severed standard expectations.
Gilles Barbier: Sagging skin at rest serves as a corrupt and temporary medium for a message.
Oliver Herring: His Oliver is a three-dimensional collage of cup-up photos, possibly a little too tricky for its own good.
Ann Mathern: How to represent a bird of prey.
Rafael Sanchez: Roberta Smith wrote that he “modestly but tellingly coaxes something magical out of almost nothing.”
Susan Robb: From memories of a gang rape on a pool table to microbial colonies of new life, this image has it all.
Jim Shaw: Still crazy after all these years. Dream Object (vomiting bum)
Fred Muram: If he invites you to stretch out on his couch, say no.
Eleanor Pachaud told the sorry tale of good art coming to a bad end in Washington State’s capital, here. (Detail of artwork on the left.)
In brief, the city council rejected Dan Webb’s proposal because that august body found it to be “too ugly.” (Good Seattle Times’ story here, including interview with the artist.)
What happened? Only Olympian reporter Matt Batcheldor tried to track it, here.
The selection process for the City Hall artwork goes back at least to May, when a citizens advisory group discussed the subject. A jury was empaneled in October and later recommended the artwork. The Olympia Arts Commission, a volunteer citizen advisory group, unanimously recommended approving Webb’s proposal.
In other words, boilerplate public art process. But because Olympia a tiny town with tender, ignorant feelings, boilerplate is not enough.
An Olympian editorial fully supported saying no to Webb.
Olympia has had numerous successful public art projects. Who doesn’t like the kissing statue at Percival Landing or the orca or
motherhood statue on the boardwalk? Who could possibly criticize the
stunning otter family sculpture by Tony Angell in the Olympia Library?
And the artwork on the new Fourth Avenue bridge is simply outstanding.
The benches in downtown Olympia are artistic expressions and some might
consider the Heritage Park fountain interactive art.The point is, Olympia has gotten it right in a long list of public art projects.
It’s unfortunate, then, that the city stumbled so badly on the selection of artwork for the new City Hall.
The proposed bronze bubbles by Seattle artist Dan Webb were a complete bust.
Whoever wrote the above is an excellent candidate for art reeducation camp. Yes to bronze orcas and otters, no to Webb? What was missing in Olympia’s failed process is an art advocate. Most of the 160 people who objected to Webb were angry about the $180,000 price tag, not his work.
Whose job was it to sell the One Percent for Arts concept in Olympia? Whose job was it to take Webb’s model to schools, community centers, retirement homes and shopping centers? Who understood Webb’s work well enough to sell its ideas and material form? If Olympia isn’t going to provide that person, it needs to stop thinking it can commission substantial contemporary art. Go for a 3-D Hallmark card and call it a day.
Webb’s work sells itself to a broad, undifferentiated audience, but only over time, which it didn’t get.
The city government now joins the state in disgraceful treatment of artists. Remember the Olympia Mural 3: Michael Spafford, Alden Mason and Jacob Lawrence.
Webb on why he loves public art, here.
Oh, that this too too solid flesh would melt
Had Hamlet lived longer, he’d have seen his flesh melt, like pudding under crust, then dust.
Installed last year in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Chris Burden’s Urban Light is a hit by any public art measure, save one.
(Image, New York Times, click to enlarge.)
Burden employed lampposts dating from the 1920s and 1930s; Klein has 25 that sample changing styles of street furniture, beginning in 1925.
With his bigger budget and better placement come bigger impact. Fleshing out an idea developed by another artist is fine, but there’s something troubling about a famous artist getting big attention for a concept a less celebrated artist brought to fruition in the same city 16 years earlier.
New York Times’ story about Burden’s piece here.
On Friday I was supposed to have lunch with Bruce Conkle and never showed up. I not only intended to be there, I was looking forward to it, never having said more to Conkle than “hello” and “admire your work. “
What I planned to do, besides eat, was listen. Conkle represents a fascinating edge of Northwest landscape art, known in Portland as eco-absurd. He’s an oddball blend of fairy tales and facts on file, and his work is more celebration than dirge.
Back to the lunch that never was: Somehow it showed up on my electronic calendar as a date for the eight, not the first.
In honor of this missed date, bought a calendar that I’ll be carrying in purse or pocket. The right date was on Conkle’s email. By double checking both electronic and paper, I might have a better chance of being in the right place at the right time.
Apologies to Mr. Conkle.
an ArtsJournal blog
