But WHY does public art have to suck?

The Gates are open!  Today marked the opening of perhaps the largest of large-scale public art installations ever erected in an urban landscape.  Stretching through New York’s Central Park, the project is the brainchild of artists Christo (wrap that island to go) and Jeanne-Claude and consists of 75,000 16-foot orange vinyl-curtained gates covering 23 miles of the park’s footpaths.  The opening of the ambitious project was attended by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and was greeted by throngs of enthusiastic visitors.

Only problem is, like nearly every public art project since 1960, it blows. But at least this public art project blows, literally.  The huge curtains, in prison-jumpsuit orange will continue to flutter for the next 16 days.  Now that’s the first bit of good news: this thing is temporary.  Unlike Claes Oldenburg’s clothespin, a spectacularly ghastly bit of flotsam that Philadelphians have endured for decades (a giant syringe with FUCK YOU emblazened on the side would be more attractive), The Gates will come down in a few weeks.  The other bit of good news is that, while this is public art, it is NOT at the public’s expense.  The artists are footing the entire bill (probably 20 mill when al the chips are counted) themselves.  And this includes a clause releasing the City of New York from any liability should one of the gates fall and kill some rich lady’s shiitsu. I think that’s fair.  Considering this huge project produces no civic benefit whatever. 

Now before everybody gets wrapped around the axle and starts calling me a "dirty Giuliani," let me say that I’m not anti-art.  I’m not even against public art.  But why, can somebody please tell me, does it all have to suck?   

The vast majority of recent public art, it seems to me, falls into one of two categories: 1. Large goofy installations that are totally out of context to their surroundings (Calder also comes to mind; somebody should really have taken away that boy’s blowtorch and rivet gun), or 2. Murals designed to powder the asses of poor people and prevent them from rioting against their own institutionalized poverty.

The Gates are definitely Category 1 public art.  They’re big. They’re goofy. They’re inappropriate.  And they achieve no public good.  As for Category 2, I’m not blaming mural painters here.  I know one or two, and some of the art is very good.  But will putting a mural on a few buildings in a few poor neighborhoods actually arouse enough civic pride to curb arson, drug abuse, etc.  I doubt it.  I think it’s more that when election time rolls around, the local politicos want to be able to say, "We care…see, we gave you that mural." And as a substitute for say, computers in the public schools or more beat cops on the streets, a mural, no matter how good, falls sadly short.  Frankly, I’d be a little more than pissed. I can see the T-shirt: "I survived the urban war zone and all I got was this crummy mural."

So, there it is.  I’m a complete philistine.  But if it’s any consolation, I think that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is a lousy art critic too.   And these are only opinions, NOT policy.  I would like to imagine that artist Robert Mapplethorpe, given the chance, would have installed a 60-foot plaster cock in the center of New York.  That would somehow be more honest.
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Slang of the day: potato grabbers: the hands.

Comments

[Amy]

I can think of so many other ways to better spend 20 million..

[Elizabeth]

we have a couple of giant cocks on the lawn of our art institute (http://www.nelson-atkins.org/).

Oh wait...they're shuttle cocks. Heh.

[Catherine]

The fucking broken button is worse than the goddamn clothespin, and I see that one ALL THE TIME.

"Murals designed to powder the asses of poor people and prevent them from rioting against their own institutionalized poverty."

WORD.

[Michelle]

I thought Millenium Park in Chicago sounded really cool, but you're right most public art sucks.

Michelle

[Miriam]

Oh, yeah, there's some baaaaad art out there. Has anyone seen the ugly male/female statue in front of the Penn Station here in Baltimore? $750,000 down the drain in order to block a beautiful old building. I haven't talked to a single person who actually likes it. Am I missing something?

(http://www.citypaper.com/arts/story.asp?id=8652)

[Jaine]

24 MILLION dollars for billowy drapes and their are kids in the NYC school system that don't even have curtains on their bedroom windows if they even have a bedroom. It's maddening, not art.

[Beth]

Dude! I'm hurt! Your bashing Calder?! Ouch! Seriously though, I'm in total agreement that much of what constitutes art these days is really foul.

Calder is everywhere in this town, check out the header of our local news site! http://www.woodtv.com/ It's the "big red one," on the right side, also affecionately known as "The Calder." Original nicknames, eh? Yeah.

You think La Grande Vitesse (real name of the big red one) is out of place, you ought to see this Di Suvero we've got in town. It's a giant tire swing made of i-beams. I was just a kid when they put it in and we loved it because it's a tire swing, but, other then that, it remotely resembles a gallows. So it's kind of cool, yet icky at the same time. Not Robert Mapplethorpe icky, but, well, you get the gist.

Your mural definition, however, is right on, "Powder the asses of poor people," indeed!

Yup, a whole lot of waste going on around this country, a whole lot.

[Charlie]

Miriam -

Yeh, the Borofsky "hammering men" are all over the place. Didn't we get over that kind of art when Stalin died? Ack. I agree that the style is completely outa place next to the RR station in Balto. I thought public art was supposed to "challenge" ... not "annoy."

Beth -
Calder is by far not the worst offender, but his stuff is EVERYWHERE. And I feel like I did when the Macarena was a hit song. I just can't escape the damn thing.

[Cecily]

The argument that spending 24 Million for art instead of putting into the NYC schools (or the curtains of the students who go there) is illogical.

First off, it's not Christo's fault that here in the United States we seriously underfund education. Since it was the artist who spent the money, why should we complain? I can't blame his for not just handing over the 24mil to the school district. He did, however, give $3m to the park itself, and you can't argue against the fact that it does help the children of NYC to have a green place to go to.

BOTH art and education should be better funded. If you really want to tackle something, consider why we're spending $4 Billion a month on a war against people that didn't even attack us.

[Veronica]

Not ALL public murals are about pandering or co-optation. This is my stepsister's organization and the work they do is truly wonderful:

http://www.epamap.org/index.html

[Catharina]

I just love the way you called the color of the curtains "prison-jumpsuit orange" and the CNN article said something about fabric "the color of a sunrise." It's all about perspective :)

[Charlie]

Catharina -
That's because I've known more people who've been to jail than have admired sunrises. ;-)

[kt]

Yeah, man, I took the bus through the park last night (admittedly getting dark by then) but it mostly looked like some inexplicable sarong-based construction project. Doesn't look magical or sunrisey. Looks half-finished.

[Elise]

Aw, I love the broken button! And Calder! And I thought the gates thing was pretty cool. My hubby, however, is in complete agreement with you about the gates. He thinks it's total bunk.

[liz]

hmmm...interesting perspective. I think I need to digest it a little, but my initial comment is that I am personally a lover of The Gates. I walked through about 80% of the park within the first few hours of the unfurling. It was truly energizing and beautiful in my eye. I had seen plenty of news coverage that morning before I headed out and though, "man this is truly ugly" but walking around in it was a totally different experience.

And let me tell you...it has energized the city and brought a great deal of good to the public. The atmosphere in the park is the happiest I have seen it during any winter day in my lifetime, and that spirit is spilling out into the city at large. The city expects to bring in $80 million in tourist revenue that will be added to the city budget that helps fund schools and fire fighters and garbage trucks and everything else.

I'm all for critiquing art, both public and otherwise, but I agree with Cecily that the argument that this money could be better spent is totally bogus. If that were true, then each one of us should really be living in the smallest house we can find, never eating in restaurants, driving 20 year old cars if any at all, and reading by candle light before bed every night. That way all of our materialistic overspending could be funding schools and community programs and public housing.

Okay...enough randomness...as I said I really need to process this a bit. Thanks for showing me the other side of the issue.

[P-DID]

You are wrong about Christo's project not bringing anything to the city of New York, all maps, and other articles for sale (directly involving the project), profits go directly to the funding of the up-keep of Central Park. As for your comments on Calder, and Oldenburg--Wow! I could've mistaken you for a right wing republican...I bet you like the Rizzo statue...hmm? Murals, true, too many and a lot do suck. The arts already get zip in funding, it is statements such as yours that are the demise of this country. As far as schooling goes, it is much deeper than people like to admit...maybe some caring on the home front would help...why does our school system suck so bad...what do other poorer countries do to better educate their children...they don't have as much...yet they think creatively and are more learned on the most part...most can speak their native language and English fluently, can we say the same for here...we are a lazy fat country that is digging a great big heaping hole for ourselves, I suggest you travel out of your comfort zone.

[Charlie]

Looks like I hit a nerve. Good. Discourse is about differing perspectives.

So let me address a few points directly...

Liz -
Interesting that you point out the tourist revenue that The Gates are bringing to the city. My wife mentioned this to me only this morning, and it is indeed a valid point. That revenue WILL go to the public good, such as schools, fire dept, sanitation, etc. And I am truly pleased at the prospect. Public art should do some public good, and since The Gates will only be up for a few weeks, they really qualify as an "event" as much as they do an "installation." I thank you for your comments, and I stand amended.

P-DID -
First, I must say that I am flattered that you consider statements such as mine to be "the demise of this country." I sincerely doubt that few spitballs from me could bring about the demise of anything. And as for sounding like a right winger, I did mention Mapplethorpe and a 60-foot plaster cock in my original post. Find me the republican who'd approve of that. I'd like to meet them.

And as for the Calder and the Oldenburg, we're just gonna hafta disagree on that one. But fear not, I think the Rizzo statue blows too. But in a different, more Mussolini-like way. Anyway, the Rizzo piece more like something you'd see on a parade float. But I'm more than happy to add it to the list of bad public art.

But back to the topic at hand...If you note my comments to Liz, I'll reiterate my amendment. I am sincerely pleased that The Gates are bringing revenue to the City of New York, and that this money will go to fund city services.

As for the many ways our educational system falls short, well, I basically agree with you...and I certainly do not blame either the presence or absence of public art (or its funding) for that situation. I was meerely pointing out that if someone would like to throw 20 million on the table, there are places where it could do some immediate good.

The fact is that we ARE a bloated and complacent nation that places a greater premium on entertainment than on education. If you ever get a chance, look at some re-runs of 1950s quiz shows and compare them with today's "Jeopardy." The questions back then were far more difficult...yet people were able to answer them (and not all those shows were rigged either). The reason is that education was a greater priority. And that before TV (and radio), people actually read books for entertainment. So I don't think we're as far apart on this as you might believe.

As for good public art, it does exist. Philadelphia's Holocaust Memorial is an example. My point is that the good is severely outnumbered by the....unfortunate.

Thanks for your comments.

[Catherine]

You fucking Republican. :) LOL!

I wanted to add a piece of public art that I think is really amazing. The Holocaust Memorial in Boston is breathtaking. It's these glass chimneys (that represent the chimneys of the concentration camps) that rise into the air. But when you get closer to them and walk through them, (and they are really massive and tall up close) you see that they are etched with tiny little numbers. Row after row after row of these numbers, into infinity, it seems. And then you read the sign and it says that the numbers are all the identification numbers of the Jewish people who were killed. And if you're like me, and never really been able to wrap your mind around the sheer horrific number of people who were murdered, it becomes real to you in this visceral way. I cried, a lot. That's some art, boy.

http://www.nehm.com/

[Charlie]

Thanks Catherine for that example... yes, there are pieces of gripping public art that do perform an invaluable function: they remind us what humanity can, in its darkest moments, be...and they celebrate the enduring spirit of light that may yet save us all from a repeat of such horrors. And it is at these times when public art achieves its greatest impact. Many veterans memorials are also examples of public art put to good use. It is not to these pieces that I object, but rather to the far more plentiful and frivolous works (buttons and clothespins and hammering men and the like) that dot our urban landscapes.

... again folks... these are just my OH-PIN-YUNS...not policy.

But it makes me wonder about the approval process for such things. Was there a public hearing when the clothespin was being considered? Did anyone say, "I don't wanna look at a big clothespin when I come out of the subway every day forever and ever..."? I guess if they did, they were out-voted.

[Christo]

It is 7,500 16-foot orange vinyl curtained gates. Not 75,000.

Very interesting rant and discussion. Just curious what public art installations do you like?

[Charlie]

Christo -
Thanks for the correction. I guess it just seemed like 75 thousand.

As for the installations I like... Winifred Lutz.

[Melanie]

I have to admit, Christo's art does nothing for me. It just seems purposeless. And I never considered that opinion of our murals, and I can see the truth in it. That said, by the time I'd read all the comments I realized that while I am in no way qualified to judge art, I have a deep affection for public art. I think it often adds an element of whimsy and I find that really comforting. The clothespin is just goofy, and it makes me smile.

[Charlie]

Thanks Melanie....

The clothespin just reminds me of laundry, and of the fact that I haven't done mine in awhile...and that reminds me of work...which is probably where most people are heading if they're looking at the clothespin. So it's really a vicious cycle.