Public Art? Why and what is it good for?

An on-going argument that seems to never stop and that never will stop is - what is Public Art? Not only what is it, but what is it’s purpose? Is it to please everyone? Or is it to please just a few?  Now, the people who think it should please every single person do not realize the complication of the art world it self. In the art world it never seems like anyone can make the big choice at any given moment of what is Art, and should it or shouldn’t it please everyone? Personally, I make work to hopefully please the masses more then for my work to completely please the art world.

The question is about Public Art, and why should it be done? Who is it for? Isn’t it a waste of money? But the same could be asked about movies, people spend millions and millions on something that is for entertainment. Public sculptures and murals are a form of entertainment. Public art can be something to make you possibly laugh on a crappy day, or just to look and learn the history around you, depending on what the work is. It’s impossible to make the one work that will please everyone. If someone does that, everyone might as well stop making art because that’s an artist making a work and saying this is the best work I have and ever will make and if everyone agrees, that can be the end of art as we know it!

One of the arguments right now in Maine around the Labor Mural is it was not in a public space. The mural was hung in the lobby of the Department of Labor in Augusta Maine. And even though this was all started by someone contacting Gov. LePage and saying that as a business person they found the history of Labor in Maine being depicted with no sign of business in the Department of Labor Lobby offensive they are working at redirecting it to being that not enough people had access to it and it wasn’t a public space. The thing is it was in a Government building and therefore, it is a public space.

This is what I have been trying to figure out since this all started - the “who” is Public Art for? And who has the say on what is or isn’t allowed? Artist? Politicians? The general public? Or private business? It really is all of the above. If it is a public project by the Government, then it applies to everyone. And as with the discussion I attended last week there is a process that needs to be followed. In gorilla art, it really is the person putting it out against the person who takes it down. Private business is sometimes are the best ally for a public work. It brings cash forward, makes a choice for their property and deal with what ever local politics that might need to be dealt with. But when the private tells the government what should and should not be done and the government doesn’t blink, then there is a problem. Those cases are for everyone.

Personally, I think that the people that have problems with public money being used for public art projects and creating those jobs, were the kids that where told that they needed to stop making art and get a real education and a real job and are jealous of those who weren’t guided away from art making and appreciation.

Can you find a Random Art? Contest

Hello, and welcome to the first contest! What I am wondering is can you find some random art?

The first 10 people to find and email a picture of random art from today, April 25th- May 9th will win an Acts of Random Art Pin! (seen below)

Your image will then be posted on this blog, and the daily twitter feed on May 10th. If you want your twitter name attached to the image and or name please add that under the writing.

Here is how to enter:
email your image to actsofrandomart@gmail.com
say what city, state, and/or country the image is from
and here is the important part if you want your prize
there will need to be a mailing address attached to this email. So please remember to do that!

This is not to ask people to go and vandalize properties or anything of the sort, just for people to find some random art! And your email and mailing address will not, I repeat, will not be given to anyone else.

Thank you and I hope to see images soon! 

A talk on Graffiti in Portland ME

This is a talk held by PACA and Space Gallery in Portland ME about graffiti. The title of the talk was Street Art vs Graffiti, which I think indicates an academic fight against it and not a look at it as an art form. When the talk started and as it went on, there was shown a clear reason why it is an art form. It was really a talk more about what graffiti is about and the people who have a problem with it - property owners and the city. It was also asked what can be done among the graffiti community and the non-graffiti community to see if some kind of agreement could be reached between the two. 

Now if you where unable to attend, or did make it and want to re-listen to the talk here you go. It seems like it will be an on-going, hopefully discussion, rather then fight.

Graffiti Talk Part 1

Graffiti Talk Part 2

Graffiti Talk Part 3

Graffiti Talk Part 4

Graffiti Talk Part 5

Graffiti as Street Art & A Second Look at “Street Art”

Graffiti as Street Art

This is an on going battle in the art world. Is graffiti street art or is it just vandalism? Now I’m not saying all graffiti isn’t vandalism because there is stuff that is and it is done for that reason.

One of the things that I wonder is why ‘street art’ seems a more art-world politically correct term for graffiti? Why not just call it what it is? It feels like many people who call it street art want to call it that just to give it “cache” in the art world. If you call a ‘street art’ painting in a gallery, graffiti, does that devalue the work? Not really, to me - it is what it is. And street art is a completely different thing to graffiti, so why not let it be what it is. This does not solve the on-going argument if graffiti is art or not. That will probably be never solved. Just like what is public space and what isn’t when it comes to graffiti remains a question. At least give the name it’s own credit.

A Second Look at “Street Art”

With a second look at “Street Art” as a title of Graffiti, I know I questioned it. And said in the right way by the right people and direction of their nose I will question it. Here’s how I really think about it. “Street Art” should be looked and treated as the overall movement. It’s a movement that has spread over time more then any other. People have to start putting graffiti, public art, flash mobs, monuments and more into subcategories under “Street Art”. Other categories of street art have been since cave paintings and Egyptian monuments to public sculptures in today’s cities.

I accept “Street Art” as one term for all art on the street and out in the public spaces, but it has to not be used to discount the other sub-groups.

No Damage

One of things like for Acts of Random Art is placed sculptures of all sizes and chalk. They are really the most temporary, especially if they are small sculptures. People tend to snatch those up when they walk by. I always like hiding little sculptures that some one might catch out of the corner of their eye. And if its gone, I can only assume that it is from someone spotting it and like myself picking up a small toy found with no one around. Now I’m not saying I don’t like it when someone installs a sculpture. But that doesn’t fit to this topic, unless it is bolted to a post that already has the holes and it is not damaging any property. But placing a sculpture somewhere and walking away, or even just a distance to watch reactions is also a lot of fun. I enjoy watching to see if someone from a town or city comes and gets it or if some random person picks it up to bring home to their own home.

Chalk is also a good “no damage” tool. It’s quick, portable; you can’t really get in trouble for it. And it confuses people when they see that doesn’t like graffiti because it is, but it’s not. Chalk is something that can easily be hosed down and no extra paint to match a concrete wall that has aged. Sometimes the blocks of various grays do not look any better then what they are blocking. I will also say that I think that by many a stick of chalk is over looked. One thing I also like is that it really is a temporary mark. So to get the chance to see it is by few. And if it’s something interesting it will be talked about and people will hope to see it before it’s gone. Just like some of the other graffiti marks.

In the end I truly enjoy in the non-damaging works. Only because part of the fun is watching people, like cops question someone but not really be able to do anything because someone isn’t really doing anything at the same time.

What can happen when Graffiti is allowed

A friend posted an article about 5 Pointz in Long Island, New York. I have heard of this place and seen small sections of it on TV. After reading this article and checking out  the couple pictures I decided to look at the more image option which lead to a flickr page showing many images of the place. It’s really amazing. Not only is it bigger then what the article images make it seem, but when you look at some of the wide shots and the number of images covering the place, it’s incredible.

Now, I think that 5 Pointz it’s a great example of what can happen when you allow Graffiti in an area. When you let it happen you can get better work and it’s going to be one of those things that is constantly changing. The ones that won’t get covered are the ones memorializing people like artist Jaen-Micheal Basquiat and rapper Notorious B.I.G. Why not allow Graffiti in places? It could become a rotating work of art.

Article

http://gothamist.com/2011/03/06/5_pointz_may_be_eliminated_in_owner.php#photo-1

5 Pointz flickr

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimkiernan/sets/72157611768993791/with/3146152997

A Blunt Instrument

Graffiti is nothing really new to me. It’s been an interest of mine for a long time. Going to New York City as a kid, Chicago and Milwaukee in college and studying Art History, kept it in the forefront of my mind. I started this new project more for looking at street/graffiti/public art.  It has been fun to go and hunt it down.

For whatever reason I have been watching many documentaries on the subject of graffiti, from “Bomb It!” to “Exit Through the Gift Shop” and many others. These have strengthened my interest and knowledge on the subject of graffiti.

Personally one thing I think is interesting about this art form is how blunt an instrument is used - paint pens to rollers to, of course, spray cans. Now the average person uses rollers and spray cans to cover a large space. They cover a wall in a room, floors and other flat surfaces with the rollers. Spray paints are used to cover more shapely objects and sometimes to get those hard to reach spots with a brush or roller.

But when you look or watch people work on graffiti or see that finished product, it’s amazing the control. Some use the roller to cover old work and spray on top. Some use the rollers to cover large space in a project then edge and detail it with the can. There is amazing control of edge, sharp or faded, drips or no drips. It might not look clean and controlled to many people, at first glance, but when you start seeing the same work in other places, by the same person, and it looks like the one or more you saw earlier. You will start to see the control.

Part of the control that people have is all in speed. In the minutes it takes to for someone to get an image or name up on a wall, the speed is remarkable. Sometimes one color sometime more, teams or a single person - the speed is part of the game. One time, I was in Portland ME for the First Friday Art Walk and as a friend and I drove past a building I saw two people - at about 5:30pm - in the middle of  everyone walking around - they where fast at work. It took me only about 5 minutes to get back around the block and they where gone. They had just started but also finished the complete work. One sprayed out the white shape and the other came along right behind him with a can of black paint shaping out the letters. It was pretty well done and again the speed was a significant contributor to the game.

If you don’t like that, you should look a little bit at the way it’s made with speed and detail  Now I’m not saying that everyone should like graffiti - like any art, it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Some people may come around and like it. Others will always have problems with it. To this day there are people who don’t like Picasso’s work or think that Monet and Salvador Dali are nothing special. But before you knock it too much at least look at the instruments that are used and the precision with which it is done. You have to give a little credit to the artists for that. I know that there are movements that bore me to death but recognizing the skill in what they do, I will always tip my hat to them for it.

How to find Acts of Random Art (A.o.A.R.)

To Start You are going to have to change the way you look at everything. Many people just look straight ahead and go from point A to point B and always on the well traveled paths.

To find A.o.A.R. you will need to look in door ways that scare you, the ground, up high, and to take routes you might not always take. Think of someplace hard to get to or out of sight. Most likely you’ll find something there. Stenciled work, wall papered images and the standby tags. Now sometimes the best public works are right in front of your nose and in the most public locations, especially street sculptures. Most people either don’t see it because it’s in their every day path and have imprinted what the surroundings are and do not notice something new and different. Others will see it and think it must have been sanctioned to be there because why else would it be in such an obvious space?

So really the best way to find A.o.R.A. is open your eyes and take not a second look around you, but a third, fourth, and why not a fifth time? You just might find something you didn’t see before.