Public Art

This week I gave my PGC seminar! I didn't end up discussing feminism through the lens of instillation art, as I had previously mentioned, rather I spoke about "Creations of Cultural Collisions: The Art of Intercultural Interactions." I discussed the ways artists respond to the range of reactions to cross cultural contact, from the most detrimental, such as obliteration and colonization, to the most healthy, for example acculturation and multiculturalism. Sadly my PowerPoint didn't translate from my Mac to the PGC's PC, but I think the talk was successful nonetheless because it provoked interesting conversation amongst my audience of fellow interns. I'm hesitant to share my thoughts on the subject of my seminar through my blog, as my peers suggested I turn it into something more than a presentation at some point in my life, so if you are interested in learning about this topic feel free to shoot me an email or give me a ring.

Anyway, the real reason I'm writing this post is to share with you what I learned from Mark Rosen, who gave his seminar just after mine. Mark was a student at the University of Texas at Austin, when they received a long-term loan of twenty-eight sculptures from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, (mind you the largest loan of this sort that the Met has ever offered). In an effort to help his fellow students and visitors understand the meaning and the importance of the works that were strategically placed around campus, Mark created a docent training program by researching all of the pieces, movements, and artists by whom they were made and subsequently devising extensive educational materials. During his seminar, Mark took us on a virtual tour of the UT campus, explaining each of the sculptures he finds most interesting along the way.

In an effort to feature women artists on my blog, I will share with you what I've learned about a piece by Louise Bourgeois called Eyes (1982), which Mark brought to my awareness during his talk/tour. Eyes weighs over 11,000 pounds, which is so much that the infrastructure of the building in which it's housed actually had to be strengthened in preparation for it's placement in the atrium! At age 71, Bourgeois hand carved this mammoth block of marble to appear as though eyes are bulging from the top of a dwelling structure. Eyes are a popular Surrealist theme that tend to symbolize perception and the female anatomy. Seeing as feminist messages can be found in many of Bourgeois' works, art historians have suggested that this work is intended to raise questions about the role of women in relation to the home. The work also touches on the theme of the interaction between nature, human creations, and machine made objects - as you can see parts of the block of marble appear to be incomplete, referencing their natural origins, while the parts that are complete, so to speak, appear to be smoothed by machine, though the work was completely finished by hand.

An interesting note about the placement of Bourgeois' sculpture is its relationship to the work that lies in front of it, just outside of the building, which is by another female artist, Magdalena Abakanowicz and is called Figure on a Trunk (2000). The work proudly stands blocking pedestrians from entering the building using a direct route, but despite its unavoidable presence, the figure has no head and looks as though it could easily be knocked right off of the wobbly logs on which it is balancing. Thus, to get into the building you must first face the flimsy headless man and then bypass the 11,000 pounds of (female) eyes. I'll leave you to make of that as you wish...

As I mentioned above, there are 28 works on the UT campus that are on loan from the Met, however UT hasn't stopped their public art endeavors there... They have sponsored three more artists to infuse their campus with additional creativity. To learn about artists 1 - 28 check out the UT Landmarks website at landmarks.utexas.edu . As for artists 29 - 31, some pretty cutting edge players, here is a brief rundown. 29 is Mark di Suvero with his work Clock Knot (2007). Clock Knot's title was given by a poet who saw in the work both the hands of a clock, as well as a knot. Whether you see the clock, the knot, or not, you have to admit that the play on words is kind of cute. Interestingly, di Suvero is handicapped, but still physically engages in the productions and installations of his works. Another nice anecdote about the artist is that his materials are almost all recycled and the creation of his works always have some community service aspect to them. ALSO, fun fact for all of you UofM folks out there, that huge piece that was installed in front of UMMA upon its reopening is called Orion (2006) and it's by di Suvero! (And on a cute side note, one of the artists from the original 28 at UT is Tony Smith, whose Tau (1961-2) is outside of the main building of Hunter college, where I "studied abroad!" Represent.)

Because I want to save best for last, artist 31 is James Turell. His project is called Skyspace and won't be actualized until 2011, but seeing as he has done other skyspaces before, I feel confident saying that the premise of the project is to utilize light and space in art, as apposed to just alluding to, or discussing light and space, as so many artists do. To achieve this goal, Turell essentially frames the sky by creating a space with an opening in the roof! (Think ultra-modern Pantheon...)

And last but not least, artist(s) 30 is David Ellis & Blu. Radical, psychedelic, down right awesome... Watch this video of the work the produced for UT, it speaks for itself:


1. Louise Bourgeois, Eyes, 1982. Marble. The Metropolitan Museum of Art New York.
2. Magdelena Abakanowicz, Figure on a Trunk, 2000. Bronze. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
3. Mark di Suvero, Clock Knot, 2007. Painted Steel. Mark di Suvero & Spacetime C.C., courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, New York.