Public Art Debate

[Abii]

Originally Posted by ggopher

Beautiful day for a walk in Calgary, first day of December and it is +6C, just one of the many reasons why I love this city:



Now this is a great example of public art:

Thanks for the pics. Who is he?

[ggopher]

Originally Posted by Abii

Thanks for the pics. Who is he?

Very interesting history.
http://m.metronews.ca/#/article/news...eep-roots.html

[Chinook Arch]

Umm, not exactly a great example of public art, not even a good one. Better than Bowfort Towers, I'll give it that.

Originally Posted by ggopher

Now this is a great example of public art:

[topdog]

Not a great example! Everyone in Calgary thinks public art has to involve a horse and a cowboy

Originally Posted by ggopher

Beautiful day for a walk in Calgary, first day of December and it is +6C, just one of the many reasons why I love this city:


Now this is a great example of public art:

This is a great example of public art.

[Deepstar]

Thank you.

Originally Posted by topdog

Not a great example! Everyone in Calgary thinks public art has to involve a horse and a cowboy


This is a great example of public art.

[Northern]

Originally Posted by topdog

Not a great example! Everyone in Calgary thinks public art has to involve a horse and a cowboy

This is a great example of public art.

Let me guess, you're one of those morons who think this is public art.

[milomilo]

Originally Posted by Chinook Arch

Umm, not exactly a great example of public art, not even a good one. Better than Bowfort Towers, I'll give it that.

Originally Posted by topdog

Not a great example! Everyone in Calgary thinks public art has to involve a horse and a cowboy


This is a great example of public art.

[IMG]https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...6e1e07f7ea.jpg[/MG]

If that is the example I think it is (by the Elbow/Bow confluence) it's actually much more thoughtful than just a typical cowboy - the writing on the statue indicates it's meant to represent the first westerners to arrive on a desolate prairie, unknowing of the city that would one day be in front of them.

[jc_yyc_ca]

Even the leftwing libtards don't consider this art.

Originally Posted by Northern

Let me guess, you're one of those morons who think this is public art.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by jc_yyc_ca

Even the leftwing libtards don't consider this art.

Interestingly, if art is meant to start conversation, this has been one of the most successful. I do like that it is functional, and in all honesty, every time I drive by this thing, everyone in the car cannot help but look. It has come to "own" the initially negative meaning reindeer names. The "big blue hoola hoop" seems to weather all of this.

[ST1]

But by the same token the art piece could be a huge piece of dog crap made of plastic and people would talk about it and look at it every time they drive by.

Originally Posted by suburbia

Interestingly, if art is meant to start conversation, this has been one of the most successful. I do like that it is functional, and in all honesty, every time I drive by this thing, everyone in the car cannot help but look. It has come to "own" the initially negative meaning reindeer names. The "big blue hoola hoop" seems to weather all of this.

[X_ting_on]

The public art in the first pic is more appealing to me. The art in the second pic is cliche, I mean a statue of a guy on a horse sitting atop a cement block. The oldest cliche of art there is.

Originally Posted by ggopher

Beautiful day for a walk in Calgary, first day of December and it is +6C, just one of the many reasons why I love this city:




Now this is a great example of public art:

[Stephen Ave]

FFS it’s all art. What is it with people and this fetish for having heart that modern and colorful, why can’t something be a statue sitting on top of concrete cannot still be considered art???

Originally Posted by X_ting_on

The public art in the first pic is more appealing to me. The art in the second pic is cliche, I mean a statue of a guy on a horse sitting atop a cement block. The oldest cliche of art there is.

[Chinook Arch]

Originally Posted by milomilo

If that is the example I think it is (by the Elbow/Bow confluence) it's actually much more thoughtful than just a typical cowboy - the writing on the statue indicates it's meant to represent the first westerners to arrive on a desolate prairie, unknowing of the city that would one day be in front of them.

Exactly. I don't see anything wrong with it. Not all all should be cowboys and horses, but it's nice to have some variety and it's nice to having something that pays tribute to local history.

[Chinook Arch]

Originally Posted by X_ting_on

The public art in the first pic is more appealing to me. The art in the second pic is cliche, I mean a statue of a guy on a horse sitting atop a cement block. The oldest cliche of art there is.

I'm not sure what you're smoking, but this is about as cliche as it gets.

[jc_yyc_ca]

Originally Posted by Socguy

When it costs 17 million to fix a single truss installed wrong back in the 1980's it kind of puts into perspective how little this city actually spend on things like public art or footbridges.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgar...-fix-1.4430833

Not an apples to apples comparison, unless your saying that public art is the equivalent of an expensive fuck up. A case could be made for that.

[suburbia]

Originally Posted by Northern

Let me guess, you're one of those morons who think this is public art.

Originally Posted by jc_yyc_ca

Even the leftwing libtards don't consider this art.

Originally Posted by suburbia

Interestingly, if art is meant to start conversation, this has been one of the most successful. I do like that it is functional, and in all honesty, every time I drive by this thing, everyone in the car cannot help but look. It has come to "own" the initially negative meaning reindeer names. The "big blue hoola hoop" seems to weather all of this.

Originally Posted by msmariner

Don’t wanna interrupt this non construction talk with a construction update. The site has been cleared and fenced off to the east of University City. There was a blue drill/ pile driver in site this morning. Not sure what the name of the project.

To msmariner's point, perhaps a public art thread might be good to start (though many would highlight that public art is integrated with construction projects quite often, particularly with the funding model). If such a thread exists, apologies for not knowing that. There was good discussion on CBC this morning on the TELUS Sky art plan, which in that case is completely integrated into the building.

At the same time, I think backhanded knocks on people ("don't wanna interrupt this non construction talk") are not always helpful, and perhaps a higher level of civility / maturity is appropriate.

[Socguy]

Originally Posted by jc_yyc_ca

Not an apples to apples comparison, unless your saying that public art is the equivalent of an expensive fuck up. A case could be made for that.

I think you missed the point.

[Corndogger]

Originally Posted by Socguy

I think you missed the point.

There's absolutely no connection between this incident and public art.

[jc_yyc_ca]

Originally Posted by Socguy

I think you missed the point.

Umm, you missed the point. The cost of repairing a faulty truss is way larger than the cost of art, so what? The cost of crappy art is far more expensive than installing some extra park benches., and park benches are far more expensive than a happy meal at Mcdonald's.

The faulty truss is something that had to be done whether we liked it or not, same thing goes for replacing old sewage pipes and re-paving roads. Those are 'have to haves', not 'nice to haves', and if you're going to spend money on 'nice to haves' at least try to do a better job of it.

[Tobyoby]

No, Socguy was right, You missed the point. The point being that the city spends billions on useful but mundane items such as road repair and pipes, etc... yet, a couple hundred thousand for art becomes a huge deal. Art is just as useful as roads and pipes, but in a different way and it comes at a minute fraction of the cost.

Originally Posted by jc_yyc_ca

Umm, you missed the point. The cost of repairing a faulty truss is way larger than the cost of art, so what? The cost of crappy art is far more expensive than installing some extra park benches., and park benches are far more expensive than a happy meal at Mcdonald's.

The faulty truss is something that had to be done whether we liked it or not, same thing goes for replacing old sewage pipes and re-paving roads. Those are 'have to haves', not 'nice to haves', and if you're going to spend money on 'nice to haves' at least try to do a better job of it.