Public Art Review issue 38 - 2008 (spring/summer)

issu'e 3 8 • spring/summer 2 0 0 8

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The Cass Sculpture Foundation sculpture estate at Goodwood is open from April -October each year Opening hours Tuesday-Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday, 10.30am- 5pm (last admission 4pm| Admission Adults £10. Children under 10 years go free (unless part of a school party) Assistance dogs are welcome Cass Sculpture Foundation Goodwood, Nr. Chichester West Sussex P018 OOP Phone +44 (0)1243 538449 Email info@sculpture.org.uk www.sculpture.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1015088

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CASS SCULPTURE FOUNDATION GOODWOOD/

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O 2008, Winifred Lutz & Stacy Levy. Design by Laura Haight.

Published by Forecast Public Art in Issue 38 of Public Art Review

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ABOUT THE COVER Winifred Lutz and Stacy Levy, in collaboration with PAR and designer Laura Haight, 2008. " T h e landscape of the sidewalk is an arena full of contradictions: It is made as a clearing but is always contaminated. The sidewalk's raison d'etre is making a foot path permanent, but it eventually fails because collaborating life undoes it: new growth through the cracks, a living community (ants), and all the time the ubiquity of refuse: cigarette butts, cast-off wrappers, crumpled wads of who knows what, black stains of chewing gum. All this ephemera records the culture of its users but also helps to undo the path. The sidewalk is a reminder of the vital unpredictable mundane territory that all public art must negotiate."

"We have provided additional ants so that PAR users may populate this sidewalk further or perhaps some other s u r f a c e . . . "

„ - Winifred Lutz & Stacy Levy

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LETTER TO T H E E D I T O R I was frankly astonished to see that the article on Ohio's public art in [Issue 37] did not even mention my name, let alone reproduce any of my dozen public sculptures all over Ohio, almost all won in competitions (including the first site sculpture in Cleveland in 1976, for the Bicentennial year). In Cleveland alone I have three public sculptures, one of them of considerable size and beauty (Merging, 1986), next to Philip Johnson's much later Turning Point. I lived and worked in Ohio for 35 years, and launched my career as one of the initiators of the "site-specific environmental sculpture" movement in 1971, with my large cement-block Double Spiralling Staircase at the Blossom Music Center outside Cleveland. At that time Ohio Arts Council's percent-for-art did not even exist! Steven Litt and Irene Finck must certainly remember that I have been one of the most active and productive public artists of Ohio, nationally as well as statewide. I can't believe that art critics and other people nowadays have such short memory and such lack of art historical consciousness. I hope later art history will sort out various artists' careers and importance, especially in the field of public art of the last quarter of the 20th century, w h i c h has been studied so little. Merging was featured in Landscape Architecture, March 2007, in an article on my public art by Regina Flanagan, as was my earliest permanent public commission, Streams, 1976, in Oberlin, Ohio (also reproduced in John Beardsley's book.

Earthworks and Beyond, 1984).

- Athena Tacha, Washington, D.C.

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Ik Š 2007, Anna Valentina Murch, Confluences, painted steel The Chinook Building, Seattle, Washington Photos by Spike Mafford

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Johnson County Community College • 12345 College Blvd. • Overland Park, KS Image: Timothy Hursley

JACK BECKER + J O N S P A Y D E

FOREWORD

N E W COLLABORATIONS ... A N D C O N V E R S A T I O N S J A C K : It's really fitting that this issue of Public Art Review, focused on "New Collaborations," start off with a conversation. So much that is happening with public art today is about collaborating—in one form or another. And with PAR's parent organization, Forecast Public Art, turning 30 this year, it makes sense that we celebrate one of the core values inherent in the field. What I like about collaboration is: it's more fun than working alone! I get to meet and learn so much about people and the world around me, starting up conversations, engaging in fascinating dialogues, and investigating life in general.

J O N : But the thing is, Jack, when you work collaboratively you also have to give things up—total control, the will to get your way—and trust that this process of ego-deflation and group insight will actually produce something exciting and new that you could not have done alone. This isn't all fun—it can involve frustration and wrong turns and fights and reconciliation. But it can be life changing too. Kind of like marriage. By the way, certain public artists who are married or romantically partnered also collaborate artistically, and we decided to ask a sample of such pairs just how they fuse art and life.

J A C K : My computer was my collaborator until recently, when we had a disagreement: it swears 1+1=3! I filed for a divorce, and now it wants half of everything! I'm so frustrated—I may have to reboot. But, as the Dalai Lama said during his recent visit to the Mayo Clinic, "If there is no solution, why worry? If there is a solution, why worry?" When asked about doctor-patient relations, he said, "Trust is very important. The key is the doctor's sense of concern. His sense of commitment, his sense of responsibility with affection. Genuine affection for the patient. That is the basis of trust." Like artists working in communities—with all sorts of people—they need to mix trust with compassion. Like the sidewalk on the cover, collaboration is an aggregate. From my experience, improvisational theater and chess-plaving skills come in handy.

J O N : Compassion—sure. But you've got to be a bit wary too. In our issue we also feature New York intellectual property lawyer Barbara Hoffman, who has worked with public artists of the caliber of Mary Miss, and she suggests that if you are going to collaborate, well, get it in writing! There can be an awful lot of misunderstandings if you aren't clear up front about how you define collaboration and how it relates to copyright issues... kind of dull stuff for imaginative folks, I suppose, but it beats copping a great big resentment at the end of the process.

J A C K : As Jack Mackie, on the Last Page, dubbed it: "CollOberation!" Like ants on the sidewalk, even the best teamwork can get squashed. As I recall, some of the earliest artist-architect design teams, back in the 70s, were forced marriages, doomed to failure. Yet the intention was admirable: get artists on board as early on in the process as possible. Today, that's happening quite often. I'm constantly amazed by the countless interminglings of artists with other disciplines, with non-artists—with almost anything and anyone; It's one of the reasons why public art is increasingly difficult to define, and why it's so exciting. What bugs me is the way the term "collaborating" gets used so freely. Aren't we really talking about partnering, cooperating, or simply sub-contracting?

J O N : It bugs you—there are those ants again! And that reminds me of the piece that Joseph Hart contributed to this issue—a general look at what collaboration is, according to people who've studied it scientifically and historically. Joe introduces us to "emergent phenomena"—collaborative systems that simply organize themselves without a leader or a plan. One example: ant colonies! (Not so different, perhaps, from art colonies?) He also points out that even the great and supposedly solitary art hero Pablo Picasso made his greatest invention/discovery—cubism—in collaboration with Georges Braque! Collaboration, as you so justly point out, is hard to define because it takes many forms in art—and in life. And it's mutating daily thanks to the internet, too.

J A C K : Speaking of the net, Jarret Keene's views on open source technology certainly suggest new vistas opening up online and inspire more thinking about the web as uncharted public space. Joanna Baymiller's survey of interdisciplinary linkages is equally inspiring. Stuart Keeler's "service media" practice codifies community collaborations in a fresh, new way. And our newest collaboration, an interactive cover art project by artists Stacy Levy and Winifred Lutz—both from our featured state, Pennsylvania—combined with Helen Lessick's Artist Page, makes this issue truly unique. As artists engage with others, discover new common ground, and hone their interpersonal and communication skills, public art infiltrates geometrically—spreading exponentially—and magically migrates throughout the world.

JACK BECKER is a co-founder of Forecast and editor o/Public Art Review.

Public Art

JON SPAYDE is senior editor o/Public Art Review and o/How to Believe (Random House, 2008).

author

TOP IMAGE: DESERT BREEZE POLICE & FLRE STATION. CHANDLER, A Z . PHOTO CREDIT: MARK SKALNY BOTTOM IMAGE: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER. DALLAS, T X . PHOTO CREDIT: PAUL ADELSON

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Public

Review

issue 3 8 • spring/summer 2 0 0 8 • volume 19 • number 2

FEATURES

Crossing New Boundaries JOANNA BAYMILLER

24 My Collaborator, My Love: Public Artists as Romantic and Artistic Partners JON SPAYDE

28

A Marriage Made on Earth: Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison JANE INGRAM ALLEN

32 Service Media: Community as Collaborator STUART KEELER

34 The Great Wide Open: Can the Internet and open-source technology expand the limits of public art?

JARRET KEENE

37 Working Together: Toward A Theory of Collaboration JOSEPH HART

RKft

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98 Last Page JACK MACKIE

Special thanks to artist Jack Mackie for providing PAR with his curated collection of collaboration quotations inserted throughout our Features section.

Photo of the renowned artist team Gilbert & George (Gilbert is on the right) © Alastair McKay.

PublicArtReview issue 3 8 • spring/summer 2 0 0 8 • volume 19 • number 2

NEW COLLABORATIONS

DEPARTMENTS

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Artist Page: Helen Lessick

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Common Grounds The opportunities and challenges inherent in collaboration are endless. From nitty-gritty design team struggles and community-based programming to factory residencies and public-private initiatives, all are seeking common ground.

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My Copyright, Your Copywrong: Artistic Collaboration and the Law B A R B A R A T. H O F F M A N

45

A Response f r o m Ken Smith

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On the Move with the Revolving Museum DOREEN

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MANNING

Artists Sink In at Immersive Kohler Factory Residency J. G . M I K U L A Y

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Iowa West Public Art: Bringing New Life to a River City LEA R O S S O N

54

DELONG

Featured State: Pennsylvania It's no wonder the abbreviation for Pennsylvania is PA—public art in America practically started here! With great artists, supportive patrons, innovative programs and enormous collections, PA is still leading the way.

ROBIN RICE and R E N E E PIECHOCKI

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From the Home Front

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Conference Reports S U E P E T E R S a n d R O Y F. S T A A B

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Book Reviews M A R I A N. S T U K O F F , M E L I S S A C O N S T A N T I N E , J O N S P A Y D E , A N N A

MUESSIG,

JAY W A L L J A S P E R , J A N E D U R R E L L , a n d W I L L I A M B R Y A N T L O G A N

www.forecastPUBLICart.org

.JJR^

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Recent Publications

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News

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Recent Projects

ABOUT THE COVER What's with the ant stickers? To learn more about our special cover, by W i n i f r e d Lutz and Stacy Levy, see page 9.

C O R R E C T I O N from

Issue

37

In the featured state article on Ohio: Fabian Marcaccio's 275-foot mural, Circulation, is in Akron, not Dayton.

We neglected to mention that Maya Lin's Input and Magdalena Abakanowicz's Tiro Wings Flyer were commissioned and purchased respectively by the Ohio Percent for Art Program. We misquoted program coordinator Irene F i n c k when she described the program's funding. It should have stated: " T h e legislation provides public art funds for new or renovated public buildings with appropriations of more than $ 4 m i l l i o n .

For these projects the law provides that 1% of the total appropriation be allocated for the acquisition, commissioning and installation of artwork."

It is not similarities that create harmony, but the art of fusing various elements that enrich life. Professional activities tend to demand almost too much concentration; this becomes a narrowing of experience for each one.

The infusion of new currents of thought, stretching the range of interests, is beneficial to both men and women.

-Anai's Nin, In Favor of the Sensitive

Man

Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, Flf Tower, 2007, London, England (on the National Theatre's Lyttleton flytower).

Commissioned by the National Theatre and sponsored by Bloomberg. Photo courtesy the artists.

Anish Kapoor, in collaboration with Cecil Balmond of Amp, Mityis, October 9,2002 to April 6,2003, London, England (in Tate Modem's Turbine Hall).

Photo by Dennis Gilbert/VIEW.

c

SISeiv IBoumlarics JOANNA BAYMILLER

Tf

i It took a structural engineer's computer modeling techniques to help Anish Kapoor anchor a huge fabric installation in an eight-story atrium. Artist-designer Ben Rubin asked statistician Mark Hansen to help him create a sonic and visual environment for internet-based art using Hansen's knowledge of web technology. Solar energy experts and wind turbine designers are helping Andrew Leicester refine the shape and materials for a figurative sculpture the artist has proposed for a coal-mining town in Wales. Artists Christine Baeumler and Beth Grossman created the Bureau of Atmospheric Anecdata [PAR Issue 37, page 91], a series of interactive "weather stations" that collected people's recollections of local weather, then presented some of them in collaboration with sound and video artist Cheryl Wilgren Clyne. And the artist Mark Dion has recruited teams of botanists and entomologists and a squadron of students for his projects, which tend to be enigmatic assemblages exploring everything from the evolution of natural history to the process of assembling and categorizing objects themselves.

Public art projects are, of course, intrinsically collaborative.

It takes a lot of people wearing different hats and controlling different territories to initiate, fund, curate, and maintain public work. But the "art" part has often been a different matter. Many visual artists—even public artists—are loners who are trained to come up with their basic ideas and visions all by themselves.

Increasingly, however, public artists are finding new collaborators from unrelated disciplines to help inspire and develop, not just fabricate or finance, their work. A desire for new skills and tools, extra firepower to fuel their imaginations, access to different materials and media, insights from outside the artists' usual realms, an urge to explore new concepts—all these are driving these pairings.

Ideally, such partnerships stretch the artist's vocabulary and add to the power and presentation of the end result. In the best cases, the experience and insights gained from outside perspectives permanently enhance the artist's abilities and even change the nature of doing business in the public realm.

As artists push across new boundaries and make works that are more complex as well as more experimental, the opportunities and incentives for collaboration ratchet up.

A look at the work of several public artists finds collaborations with mathematicians, media and computer scientists, ceramicists, metalcrafters, and engineers. There's also a growing and welcome tendency for architects to pair with artists at the inception of projects, rather than inviting them later to "embellish" them. (In several cities, notably Scottsdale, Arizona and Calgary, Alberta, artists are actually starting to lead planning teams.)

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Teresita Fernandez, a recent recipient of a MacArthur Foundation fellowship, employed weavers and sculptors, as well as a professional "spraymaster," who helped her apply paint with an air hose to threads of stretched yarn. The Miamiborn artist, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, was inspired to use fibers she discovered on a visit to a textile warehouse while working as artist in residence at the Philadelphia-based Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM).

The conceptual premise of the resulting work, Fire, is similar to her previous work, in which she explores natural forms and the metaphors they evoke, but her collaboration with FWM stimulated her to combine what were, for her, new materials, and to substitute spray painting for the traditional dyeing process. FWM project coordinator Mary Anne Friel, along with spraymaster Michael Wommack, weaver Pam Pawl, and sculptor Georghe Adam, helped realize the piece, which started with the initial concept of a "ring of fire" before going through several further incarnations. Fernandez and her team eventually constructed an armature of steel, epoxy, and woven dyed silk fibers, the latter vertically suspended in lines between the two horizontal edges of the steel ring. She sprayed the lengths of yarn with an airbrush in zigzagging pattern of reds and yellows.

Fernandez is also represented in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park, a new site for major public artwork. The artists worked closely with the park's architects, Weiss/Manfredi of New York City, modifying, tweaking, and enhancing the structures. Fernandez used the frame of an existing fence on a bridge over a Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line that runs through the park as armature for her mural of laminated glass panels, called Seattle Cloud Cover. The work presents passersby with transparent multicolored views of a fictional sunset (more Miami than Seattle).

Anish Kapoor creates large-scale sculptures in many media, and often turns to structural engineers. His frequent collaborator is Cecil Balmond, the head of a small unit within the huge international engineering practice Ove Arup. This subgroup, the Advanced Geometry Unit (AGU), includes mathematicians, structural engineers who are also musicians, and other idiosyncratic minds, and works frequently on novel structures with both artists and architects. (Balmond also collaborates with sculptor Martin Puryear). As such, the AGU works as a kind of engineering- and mathematics-themed version of filmmaker George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic special-effects lab.

In the past. Kapoor has used carved stones, powdered pigment, and concave mirrors. Recently, he's experimented with fabric—fleshy PVC membranes—to create gigantic, inscrutable forms. The AGU was instrumental in his 2002 commission for the giant Turbine Hall of the new Tate Gallery in London.

The Tate commissioned several artists for the hall, a vast eight-story interior atrium. Kapoor wanted to fill the entire space with an enormous tubular fabric piece, 460 yards long.

From the standpoint of size alone, Marsyas was a challenge. It would be, as designed, one of the longest single-span fabric structures ever created. But it also had a distinctive shape, and the size and weight of the piece made achieving that shape

What is needed to succeed [in collaborations] is enough professional maturity to have a point of view, but enough emotional maturity to listen to other people.

- Mark Spitzer, architect

ABOVE: Teresita Fernandez, in collaboration with The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Fire, 2005, Philadelphia, 96 x 132 inches (diameter).

BELOW: Anish Kapoor, in collaboration with Cecil Balmond of Arup, Mirsyis, October 9,2002 to April 6,2003, London, England (in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall).

puzzling. Balmond's AGU group used both virtual reality simulations and physical mock-ups to test various structural solutions—from a cantilevered beam to the eventual use of structural steel rings—to give the artist the curvilinear shapes he was seeking and insure the stability of the piece.

Like Anish Kapoor, Vicki Scuri (founder and principal of the SiteWorks Studio near Seattle) has found a collaborator she knows and trusts to help achieve her artistic goals with functional solutions that respect her methods and metaphors.

Her studio has played a key role in initiating and carrying out more than fifty projects in the last twenty years, concentrating

ABOVE: Vicki Scuri Siteworks, Mark Spitzer Designs, and Wilson & Company, North Ninth Gateway, 2002-2006, Salina, Kansas.

RIGHT: Scuri and Spitzer at work in the studio, 2008.

on work in the urban infrastructure such as bridges, parking garages, parks, and playgrounds. Scuri's pedestrian bridges and windscreens, made of concrete, steel, and baked enamel on glass, and her exterior embellishments to parking garages, show a reverence for natural colors and forms and an ability to subtly or whimsically integrate these patterns with function and form.

Originally a printmaker, Scuri holds design patents for several innovative concrete surfaces, and her work has pushed the concrete industry to create more attractive patterns, many of which can now be seen on the formerly blank concrete barrier walls that line many of the nation's more beautified highways.

Because her projects are complex insertions into the urban fabric, she often leads teams that include engineers, landscape architects, and lighting designers, among others. And most often, she collaborates with a longtime partner, Seattle-based architect Mark Spitzer. "He's very good at form-giving, at seeing and understanding how things are built, and also understands the role of public art," she says. "We have opposite impulses in some ways. He's looking very much from a 'systems' perspective, whereas artists tend to have a body relationship. We have a kind of physicality that's tactile, visual, but not necessarily form-giving. If you're an architect, you see the broad view; more of a functional and systemic perspective. He has a real grasp of the functional, and I have a good grasp of my craft."

She cautions, however, that projects with multiple collaborators are "not for everyone." She cites the experience of her $18 million Dreamy Draw Pedestrian Bridge project in Phoenix.

Scuri handled the lighting, landscape, fencing, walkways, and

barrier rails and collaborated with engineers, landscape architects, lighting designers, and contractors. "We grabbed everything available and worked with the team to see how we could put all of our visions together," she says.

As ambitious and exciting as the project was, working with multiple collaborators at all stages of a project can make the traditional hassles of public work—including interacting with commissioning agencies and other private and public bodies— even more complex. "Even though we were contracted to an engineering team, an arts and humanities commission oversaw our work," Scuri says. "A lot of this work is challenging for the [public] agencies. Once you go off-standard, it's much more nerve-wracking. Making these projects demands good communication, organization, and support by all the members of the team for the ideas that have been agreed upon.

"The political process can be a thicket," she adds. "It's not for the timid; you have to dance to the politics, and it is rugged.

And I think it is becoming worse, if anything, because of the legal issues. People are terrified of doing anything that hasn't been done before."

22

Born in the working-class industrial city of Birmingham, England, the often whimsical and satirically inclined Andrew Leicester has never been a solo studio artist; virtually all of his work is collaborative. "I have always relied on other people's efficiencies in different materials," he says. "I'm not obsessed with materials in my work, with honing the piece physically, so I have great respect for people who can do that."

Based in Minneapolis since 1970, Leicester has worked all over the world, with commissions in his backyard (The Minnesota History Center, Saint Paul) and in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and a number of other places in the United States and abroad.

He collaborated with ceramicist David Dahlquist, and with architecture and landscape architecture firms, on the Los Angeles project Zanja Madre (Mother Ditch), a colonnade and water garden depicting the city's relationship to water. Another collaborator on Zanja Madre—one that helped Leicester stretch and develop his technique—was a metal company called Spectrotec, which had unusual expertise with specialty metals. "The company turned out to be three Ukrainian brothers with black beards," he recalls. "They looked very intimidating but they could fabricate and twist and roll materials to make helical and conical forms. They took my drawings, bid on [the project], and the relationship developed from there. They were able to do things I'd never seen before, and manipulate the material more freely than I could," he says.

Leicester learned how to, as he puts it, "stretch the envelope in ceramics" collaborating on a molecular biology-themed installation at Iowa State University. "I was working with really talented ceramicists who could make huge elements," he says, "and that partnership definitely changed my thinking."

Andrew Leicester in collaboration with architect Phillip Koski, Seven Sees, 2003, Minneapolis.

The experience culminated in two new pieces incorporating the work of ceramicists, Flying Shuttles at the Bobcat Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina (the title is a wry reference to sewing machine bobbins found at the state's many textile mills), and the Parade of Floats in front of the Richard Meier-designed San Jose City Hall.

Most recently, on a site on a hill in Wales near the ironand coal-mining town of Merthyr Tydfil, Leicester has proposed a giant figure based on a local fifteenth-century saint.

His research and design work for the construction of the piece has involved experts in the wind and solar industries, who are hoping to make Wales a leader in wind energy projects and allow the country to achieve self-sufficiency by wind power by the year 2020. Leicester's proposed figurative installation echoes that goal.

"One would see the figure silhouetted against the western sky [when] driving into Merthyr," the artist writes in his proposal. "She stands in a Celtic knot garden planted with carboneating plants. Her Joan of Arc-ish tunic is a chain mail pattern of solar panels; her brandishing swords, the blades of wind turbines."

Leicester is careful to point out that he's not interested in the glamour of technology for its own sake, and that it should be a collaborative element rather than a dominating factor.

Technical collaboration, he says, is a means, not the end. "You will not be successful if you just rely on the 'service technolo-

To make a really successful design team work, you need a basic philosophy that says it's the quality of the idea, not the author of it, that's the most important thing.

- Gerald Hansmire, architect

ABOVE: Andrew Leicester, Parade ot Floats, 2005, San Jose, Calif. A parade of sixteen ceramic and cast stone "floats" and columns. The Education float sits adjacent to San Jose University. RDG Ceramic Studios, Des Moines, Iowa, produced the clay for this project, which references graduation caps and gowns.

BELOW: Mark Dion and the Chicago Urban [cology Action Group, 1992-1993. As part of the Culture in Action public art program, Dion led a group of fifteen students to a rain forest in Belize, researched environmental artists and action groups, and created a summer-long, experimental field station for examining tropical and urban ecology.

gies' that these people bring. You have to develop your own philosophy as an artist parallel to this. I've always had very strong feelings about how I look at life. These other things are secondary, and I do not let them lead me."

Mark Dion generally creates exotic, didactic, and somewhat obsessive assemblages. He'll fill large wooden cabinets with bric-a-brac and other items seemingly assembled from tag sales, the storerooms of taxidermy shops, closets, Aunt Alice's attic, toy stores, and museum archives—castoffs, bird specimens, decorative objects, plants, and a host of other things that illustrate his notions of how we attempt to understand and come to terms with an inexplicable universe by creating categories.

"My job as an artist isn't to satisfy the public," says Dion.

"That's not what I do. I think the job of an artist is to go against the grain of dominant culture, to challenge perception, prejudice, and convention. A big flaw in some public art schemes is that they seem to be about trying to find an artist who's going to please everyone. That's not interesting to me. I think it's really important that artists have an agitation function in culture. No one else seems to."

Yet agitation, it seems, does not need to exclude cooperation and collaboration. Almost all of Dion's work has been done with a wide range of collaborators, from the students and community members who took part in a Connecticut archaeological dig to longtime collaborators Bob Braine, Alexis Rockman, and Jackie McAllister, with whom he created, among other works.

Thirst for Knowledge, a mock art-school cloakroom crammed with clothing and books.

One of Dion's best-known collaborative pieces is also in Seattle's Olympic Sculpture Park. Neukom Vivarium lies within a trapezoidal solarium-like structure created by the architectural firm Weiss/Manfredi. Into it, Dion has transported a horizontal eighty-foot hemlock. The architects' green-glazed roof suggests the light filtering effect of a forest canopy and creates a functional environment for this living terrarium.

At the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, he recruited students to conduct a kind of art treasure hunt by combing the archives of the university for offbeat artifacts, including mirrors, a tiny plant, Hubert Humphrey memorabilia, and a painting of the city's Minnehaha Falls by Albert Bierstadt.

(The effort was initiated by the director of education at the university's Weisman Art Museum, Colleen Sheehy. also an adjunct faculty member in American studies.) Of his collaborators, Dion remarked, "The project required a lot of cooperation among museum staff, curators, and students. The students themselves really delivered. They helped shape the direction of the piece. This has been a true partnership."

All of these new collaborations—when they are true partnerships rather than mere alliances of convenience—seem to point to new avenues of exploration and discovery, both for the artists themselves and for a public increasingly drawn to the novelty of this ambitious new work.

JOANNA BAYMILLER writes about architecture and art for regional and national publications.

A former Minnesotan, she now lives along the Connecticut shoreline.

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23

public artists as romantic & artistic partners JON SPAYDE

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A successful artistic collaboration is, at least in part, a mysteriously harmonious blending of two visions and wills in which differing aptitudes and skills complement one another, disagreements are acknowledged and transcended, and individual contributions are valued and braided together for the common good. It's probably no accident that these same qualities make a marriage or any other committed romantic union happy and successful. But when collaborative artists are also partners with a capital P, there's a synergy between the two modes of being together that amounts to a unique fusion of art and everyday life. And working with the same collaborator over time—a collaborator with whom you eat, sleep, and share the most intimate aspects of living—can make a big difference in the origin, nature, and quality of the work.

Artist couples like Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Claes Oldenburg and Koosje van Bruggen, Diller + Scoffidio, and Kate Erickson and Mel Ziegler pioneered in public art collaboration and developed workableand sometimes idiosyncratic—ways of cooperating. (Christo and Jeanne-Claude told Public Art Review several years ago that "he does all of the drawing, she does most of the talking."

And Christo never flies on the same plane as Jeanne-Claude, so that if one of them dies in a crash, the other can continue the pair's many long-term projects.} Interested in finding out just how romantic/artistic partnerships work today, Public Art Review contacted a number of

Collaboration between creative individuals is much more than a standard professional relationship. Like a close friendship or marriage, a collaborative relationship built on mutual respect, trust, and informed judgment will be more fruitful than an arranged marriage or a contrived friendship.

- Elyn Zimmerman, artist

artist-pairs in the U.S. and the U.K., and boldly queried them about their work, their relationship, and the larger relationship between those two aspects of their lives. The answers we received—for which we're very grateful—provide a map of how art and love mix in the creation of public artwork (and the maintenance of family).

For public artists, of course, dividing the myriad tasks involved in the proposing, funding, commissioning, planning, and execution of artworks between two people who really understand one another can be a decided advantage. Among public-art couples, labor has usually come to be divided naturally, along lines of inclination and aptitude. There's often a rough left-brain/right-brain distinction, and one partner usually does more of the office work than the other. But these divisions can break down, and in any event they are rarely hard and fast. "In essence we each do everything," say New York-based Andrew Ginzel and Kristin Jones. "Yet in practice the division lies along lines of natural inclination. Kristin tends to be the communicator, Andrew the inventor, Kristin the organizer of events, Andrew the timekeeper, Kristin the empiricist, Andrew the metaphysician, Kristin the fire and extrovert, Andrew the earth and interior one, and so on."

Lajos Heder handles the working drawings for the collaborative projects he does with Mags Harries, as well as liaison with contractors and engineers, project management, and advance visioning. "Mags brings right-brain leaps of imagination, her knowledge of materials and fabrication, the assistance of her students from the [Boston] Museum School, and an insistent sense of fun," says Heder. "But the divisions have blurred some over the years, and we pretty much mix it up without set roles when it comes to brainstorming ideas."

The task-allocation between New Brunswick-based artists Jennifer Macklem and Kip Jones is complex. Although it tends to organize itself along the lines of Jones as technical expert and Macklem as esthetician, there's more to the story. "Kip makes most of the architectural models for public art propos-

ABOVE: Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey with sound artist Graeme Miller, Oilstoii Breve, 2003, Bermondsey, U.K. RIGHT: Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Sears, Reflect/RstHste/iccmiilste (detail), 2007, Cleveland State University Law Library. Commissioned by the Ohio Arts Council.

als and estimates the budget," they told us. "Jennifer puts together written proposals and takes care of correspondence and documentation. While fabricating the work, they share tasks.

Structural decisions are generally Kip's forte (in conjunction with an engineer) whereas permanent drawing, modelling in wax or clay is usually Jennifer's, along with most decisions about final surface treatment. Kip's expertise in bronze casting puts him in a leadership role when preparing waxes and molds and the actual pouring of the metal. Jennifer helps with dipping ceramic shell, assists the bronze pours and participates in post-pour metal chasing."

As task-dividing and task-sharing go forward, processes and routines evolve. Wisconsin and Minnesota-based Andrea Myklebust and Stanton Sears have established a comfortable rhythm, which Myklebust narrates this way: "Wake up together. Get dressed. Eat breakfast. Talk about what we're working on, what needs to get done. Go off and do our work. Eat lunch.

Work more, eat dinner. Sleep. If one or the other of us is away from the studio, we'll talk on the phone a couple times a day.

"I've often talked with married people who can't believe how much time Stan and I spend together. If he is not teaching, we're frequently together twenty-four hours a day. This has pretty much always felt good, right and comfortable to us. A dear friend once described us a being like a pair of wellmatched horses pulling a cart, an analogy I find apt, maybe even more so as we get older."

Faith Bebbington and Carolyn Murray, who live and collaborate in Liverpool, take time to integrate family life and the life of art. "Typical days don't really exist when you are self-

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employed in the arts," says Murray, "but that's what's so good about it! On an average day, though, I sit at the computer for hours, take phone calls, deal with e-mail and post in our home office. Faith is out either at the studio or leading a school or community workshop. Late afternoon we try to stop and have family time until the children go to bed, then begin work again about 8:30 PM." Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, based in Surrey in the U.K. also struggle to keep family high on their crowded agenda. "Keeping all the plates spinning isn't easy," they say. "Nor is working in the space that we live in, not having advanced computer skills, needing more support on a day-to-day basis with general office management, being shoehorned into one fee—and making sure our daughter gets proper time and isn't just pulled into our world because of work."

For Jim Hirschfield and his wife and collaborator Sonya Ishii, of Chapel Hill, N.C., "being married means that our collaboration is an ongoing process that does not require a set

schedule. Ideas can be developed at a set-aside time in the studio, but also through a discussion before drifting off to sleep."

Like Hirschfield and Ishii, many public art couples find that collaboration with a life partner lends itself to informality and flow, especially when it comes to the generation of ideas.

After Bebbington and Murray tuck the kids in and return to work, says Murray, "we most often discuss ideas for new work and current sculpture projects using sketched designs and maquettes. We can lose hours surfing Google images and YouTube videos for project research!"

"Our process is hard to make sense of," says Lajos Heder. "Sometimes we sit separately and work until one of us has something to show. Then we try to understand what the other is thinking, exchange some stuff and try to make it evolve some more." Bill Buchen, who lives and works with his wife, Mary, in Manhattan, is succinct: "Our process is a mystery and we don't analyze it too much."

Collaborative process involves more than one vision (and more than one ego). How do married or committed couples handle the ticklish issue of working together on concepts without treading on one another's toes? Here again, most pairs let nature, and the mature familiarity with one another that they share, guide the process. Ginzel and Jones often sit in their library facing each other, passing their collaborative sketchbook back and forth drawing what they are thinking as they talk. "The dialogue is one of oneness and respect," they told us. "Ideas are offered as gifts yet there is no sense of obligation.

Possibilities are considered, as wild as they may be. When one

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Real collaboration is accomplished through perseverance and the fact that the proper amount of time is allowed for

ABOVE: Jim Hirschfield and Sonya Ishii, Meditation Room, 1998, Doernbecher Children's

it to happen. There must be enough faith shown by those

Hospital, Portland, Ore. Materials: aluminum, gold leaf, wood, brass, orchids, light.

in charge that something good will result from the artist

BELOW: Diane Gorvin and Philip Bews, Forest Phoenix (with team during construction), 2006.

Built and burned as part of a six-week residency in Perth, Western Australia.

entering into the architectural design process.

- Alice Adams, artist

feels must strongly about an issue then this tends to be the one who prevails, yet the degree of influence seems to always equal out in the end." Ackroyd and Harvey told us that they "share a language and common passion for materials and processes."

And they enjoy what they call "the madness of situations we often find ourselves in. We're not over-precious about ideas, we keep the competitive side of our natures at bay, accepting that we both can have good (and bad) ideas—it's important just to have the ideas and it soon becomes obvious which ideas work together."

But the process of adjusting visions isn't always easy. Diane Gorvin and Philip Bews, whose home base is the Forest of Dean in England, acknowledge that "the hardest part is coming up with ideas that we both feel happy with. It often takes a lot of debate and can be quite painful when we each think we are right."

Still, when the pair reach a solution, all arguments are forgotten and Gorvin feels that "the work is often stronger for having been through this process." (Hirschfield and Ishii agree: "Our most stressful collaborations often turn into our best projects.")

Like Gorvin and Bews, Heder and Harries find that the sheer Tightness of the right idea tends to make the struggle feel worthwhile and soothe the relationship. "Sometimes it is not so easy when the ideas are not yet in sync," they say. "There are rough patches on the way, but we both tend to know right

away when we hit on something good."

And, as nearly every successful collaborator reports, the result of synergy is a work better, and sometimes bigger, than either might have come up with individually. "It's fascinating to see how are differences come together to make something new," say Gorvin and Bews.

Aside from these specific advantages of public-art collaboration—including, Gorvin and Bews point out, the advantage of constant access to your collaborator—the marital or partnership bond is simply "a source of strength in the collaboration, the bedrock," as Myklebust and Sears put it. "No matter how

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difficult or frustrating a project can be. it's always been good to have each other. Don't underestimate the power of having someone you love to sleep with every night! It can get you through a heck of a lot."

There are, of course, challenges in this very intimate form of working together. Jennifer Macklem: "If we were simply collaborators-not life partners—then we wouldn't care so much about offending each other with professional issues. I can become over-aware of Kip's feelings-his natural annoyance over the obstacles and challenges of the whole process of public art, for example—and this heightened awareness can result in self-censorship. And the pressure of deadlines stresses the relationship, leaving us impatient, fatigued, and with little time to unwind. Sometimes all we talk about is work."

Another challenge is summed up by Ginzel and Jones as "maintaining one's own individual integrity. It can be dangerous to work exclusively together. It's most difficult after a long-term collaboration to distinguish yourself as an independent-thinking individual artist. Working in collaboration is an act of generosity and openness, and yet one has to be careful not to be lost in the outward extension of a collaboration." For Heder and Harries, the lack of privacy can be an irritant, and Ackroyd and Harvey, who note that their individual artistic identities are quite different, feel the need to "make sure that we're not stifling the need to experiment."

But if relationship supports art, collaborative art also supports relationship, certain stresses notwithstanding. For Hirschfield and Ishii, their shared work provides a special bond. Understanding the pressures on each of their careers, they avoid the kind of marriage/career tension that bedevils some unions. "Also, there is no jealousy," they say. "We are not competing against one another. And the sharing of work enables us to have more quality time as a family." For Heder and Harries, "the shared adventures, both in artistic ideas and

Bill and Mary Buchen (Sonic Architecture), art for M U M Third Street Light Rail Line, San Francisco, 2007, in collaboration with landscape architect Ken Smith and architect Toby Levy. Enhancements include paving, shadowcasters, kinetic marguees and canopy elements.

Commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Commission.

physical travel, keep bringing new energy into what could otherwise become an old. tired relationship. We also have some old couple routines—bickering, teasing, joking—that keep us and our assistants amused."

Macklem and Jones sum up a great deal about the personal side of the intimate public art partnership when they point to the shared history that their work enshrines. "Each project seems to represent a significant chapter of our shared life," they say. "When we look back over the past fifteen years we frame our recollections with whatever project we were making at the time. Life and art are intertwined—sharing common goals has meant a more interesting and complex marriage." Ginzel and Jones "relish the time to dream together." And Gorvin and Bews note, smiling, that "We love to talk endlessly about our projects. If we each had partners that were not in this field, we would all soon be very bored!"

JON SPAYDE is senior editor o/Public Art Review and author o/How to Believe: Teachers and Seekers Show the Way to a Modern, Life-Changing Faith (Random House, 20081.

Collaborations are like marriages, except in a marriage you get to go home and work it out together in bed.

- Dave Rutherford, architect

A Marriage Made on Earth!

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison JANE I N G R A M A L L E N

One of the most distinguished and long-lasting examples of married couples collaborating in public art is the team of Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison. They have been working as equal partners on public art projects with an ecological focus since the late 1960s. They have been married for 53 years, and their creative collaboration is based on the kind of solid, everyday relationship that comes with being together for so long.

When they met, Helen was an educator with a background in psychology and literature and Newton was a sculptor. He had become acquainted with the work of conceptual artists and decided that he wanted to create art that could make a difference in the world—that could contribute something positive toward the preservation of the natural environment.

It was an idealistic time; Helen's consciousness of the issue had been raised by reading Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and other pioneering books on the planetary crisis. Newton decided that he needed Helen's point of view and her knowledge. The pair decided to pool their talents and to limit their art practice to environmental issues and solutions.

Here, (from post-interview e-mails—and in the third person) is how the Harrisons themselves tell the story of their early work: Helen and Newton's collaboration began very informally in 1969, when Newton was commissioned by the Crafts Museum to do a work in a show called Fur and Feathers. He chose to do protest work by making a big map pointing to every endangered and extinct species on record. Helen, at that time, was director of educational programs at University of California extension service and Newton was an assistant professor. Helen did the research, directing a team of students; Newton did the imagery and the conceptual work.

In 1971, Newton began a series of works called The Survival Pieces.

Fundamentally, they were mini-farms, portable fish farms, orchards, portable pastures, and the like. That same year, Helen put aside her job and began to work full-time on the art. From 1971 through 1973, the roads they took were intentionally stereotypical (male and female doing expected tasks). Helen was doing research and producing feasts within the installation of the "survival" pieces. Also, she was sometimes doing the planting.

Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison, California Wash Men: t Memorial to /he Endangered Wash Ecosystems of Coastal California (overview), 1996, Santa Monica, Calif.

A successful collaboration provides a context for professionals to do work that transcends and dissolves the boundaries between their disciplines in a way that produces a product that could not have been conceived of individually...an alloy, a melting together of different materials to develop something that has a greater strength than any of the ingredients alone.

- George Suyama, architect

In 1974, they started The Lagoon Cycle. In this work, Helen introduced photography and the idea of extended narrative and storytelling, as her background was in the philosophy of education and English literature-psychology and anthropology as well.

Beginning about 1975, they introduced in their work something they called "the Morning Conversations." From that point on the collaboration took a very flexible form that had simple rules to it. They were: 1. If one of them did not want to do a work, they didn't do it.

2. They took the time and energy to teach each other, in some senses, how to be one another.

3. An outcome of this was that, in any given work, one or the other would take on the text, depending on who was most interested, and the other would take on the imagery of the installation, depending on who was most interested. Newton mainly worked on installation while Helen often worked with presentation.

4. A decision was made when the collaboration began to accept no commissions and to do no work that did not clearly benefit the global life system, and all agreements with others had the understanding that the Harrisons considered the environment as their client.

5. They chose also not to do repetitive work. Each commission that they accepted, or work that they involved themselves in, was new to them and therefore became, in a sense, a teacher. For instance, their first global warming work was done in 1973 to 1974.

Since then, they have taken up the issue again and again, always from a different perspective.

6. The work of the Harrisons has a great deal of writing in it.

Their method is straightforward. Newton writes the initial text; Helen edits it, comments, and develops it, Newton comments, and Helen finishes it. Thus, they have evolved a very comfortable way of working where Newton has the first word and Helen has the last word.

In the Harrisons's collaboration there is a definite joining of the feminine and masculine points of view. In an article for High Performance magazine (archived in the Reading Room section at www.communityarts.net), art historian Arlene Raven examines this aspect of their collaborative process in connection with The Lagoon Cycle project. "An intriguing aspect of the two personas of The Lagoon Cycle," she writes, "is their clarifying fidelity to aspects of male and female, nature and

culture. They weave their colloquy to reconnect these personas and thus initiate a healing that stands against the antagonism of mechanistic culture for unruly nature. As metaphor and example, their collaboration also reconsiders the plunder of world ecology and the fissure between men and women.

Their eco-feminism and eco-aesthetics spring from this point of departure."

Helen seems most often to play the role of questioner, furnishing the words and the philosophical background; Newton is the active producer, the technician and builder. They often speak of their collaboration in terms of a dialogue. In The Lagoon Cycle dialogue, it has been speculated that Helen is the "Witness" and Newton the "Lagoonmaker." No one knows for sure, and it doesn't matter. In this work and others they respond to each other, and the results are more than just a combination of both points of view. They're a product of a sort of third mind that comes about through the process of collaboration. In another e-mail, the Harrisons write: From sometime in the late 1970s and continuing to this very day, with rare exceptions, all of their work has in fact emerged "in the space between them." They call the space between them the real artist. The production of the work is virtually impossible if either of them is subtracted. They have created, from their perspective, an invisible but ever-present third artist who is really doing this work and who may really even be providing the information in these comments on their collaboration.

The Harrisons don't hesitate to involve people outside their marriage as co-collaborators. In fact, they credit their works to the Harrison Studio or Helen Mayer and Newton Harrison and Associates, an ever-evolving group that takes on different people in different situations and for different projects. The studio has included their son and other family members, as well as a variety of people with expertise needed for a particular project.

"The Harrison Studio is designed to form and re-form itself for each work," says their web site, "since the people with whom we work become the Harrison Studio for that place. Thus, there is the Harrison Studio Santa Fe, or Harrison Studio B o m a in the former East Germany, or Harrison Studio Bauhaus, etc. As always, the overarching concept is envisioned by ourselves

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ABOVE: Greenhouse Britain: Losing Lend, Gaining Wisdom, 2007. Great Britain triptych shows order of ocean rising 5,10, and 15 meters. First sketch for a 20 x 30-foot model.

RIGHT: Helen and Newton presenting Peninsula Europe: The Rising Waters olthe Warming Lands to students in Oslo, Norway, 2007.

in response to a period of study in the environment. Often, it grows out of interaction with the group with whom we are in a teaching and learning relationship about place, a mutually fructifying set of transactions."

Sometimes, these collaborators are outside the art world, as in Cruciform Tunnel, a work in San Diego, which is a good example of the Harrisons' fusion of teaching, learning, and art-making. "Standard ecological researchers made a series of experiments with the canyons of San Diego," explains Newton. "We then did a work based on this research, and proposed Cruciform Tunnel. A lot of our work depends on illuminating ecological research by others, which sits in limbo, in an untransformed state."

The Harrison's also collaborate with other artists. In a work begun in 2005 titled Greenhouse Britain: Losing Land, Gaining Wisdom, the Harrisons are working with the English artist David Haley, and have established Harrison Studio Associates/ Britain, which includes a variety of collaborating experts. Exhibitions of this project are pending, with an opening at London City Hall set for 2008. (More information about this project can be found at http://greenhousebritain.greenmuseum.org.)

Collaboration goes even further; the Harrisons build community partnerships that will continue healing a bioregion even after they no longer participate. They claim no ownership

Collaboration is more than just fitting two personalities together. It's a matter of personal timing. There are times when you want to reach out and collaborate in order to grow as an artist and a person.

- M. Paul Friedberg, landscape architect

of the ideas they generate and are glad to see others continue the work they have begun. Disciplinary boundaries mean little to them; in fact, they were among the first artists to collaborate across disciplines in ecological art. They summed up their attitude in another e-mail: Ultimately, the specialty they have is to not have one. Basically, they see their process not as inter-disciplinary but as post-disciplinary.

They reason that any new work may require an investigation of a new discipline or a deepening of an understanding they have of an existing discipline. Therefore, disciplines themselves are simply seen as aids in addressing the subject matters they work with.

This open-mindedness and willingness to collaborate with whomever can get the job done—rooted in their nuanced and well-developed collaboration with one another—make the Harrisons an inspiring, and reliable, example for other artists to follow.

JANE I N G R A M A L L E N is a sculptor, installation artist, and papermaker living in Taiwan. She has been artist-in-residence at several organizations in the U.S. as well as the Philippines, Japan, Nepal, and Brazil. More at www.janeingramallen.com.

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metro.net

Metro Art congratulates Roy Nicholson for his public art contribution to our transit system: Solar Shift: San Bernardino and Santa

Monica

Glass mosaic friezes and glass mosaic light well, with stainless steel inserts.

Affirming that art can make the transit experience more inviting and meaningful for the public, Metro commissions artists for a wide array o f projects throughout Los Angeles County. To find out more or to add your name to our database for new art opportunities, call 213.922.4ART or visit

metro.net/art.

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STUART KEELER

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How can artists engage others beyond the accepted aesthetic norms of public art? Chicago offers one answer, in the form of an innovative genre that goes beyond typical North American ideas of community art. This engaging and collaborative form of public art, which I call "service media," is very different from typical group object-building art workshops, not to mention the simple plopping of a statue on the square. And it is gaining ground.

In service media, a service is offered by the artist to the community as a whole, and community members then choose how to participate in the completion of the service/art process.

Community members change from art-viewers into public participants through their own active engagement and collaboration with both the artist and the art process.

Service media is a reanimation, but also an extension, of its predecessor, new genre public art. While the two have much in common—a commitment to working outside of the gallery

Collaboration is working within the zone of confrontation.

- Trisha Brown, choreographer

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Andy Hall, lip Car Cartage, 2007. Making a slop in a Chicago neighborhood, the artist loads items for hauling and recycling.

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system, an emphasis on political issues, and an engagement with the general public—service media emphasizes active and equal participation between artists and the public. The most successful works have created eclectic teams consisting not only of other artists, but also of community members, merchants, neighborhood associations, and other non-traditional arts supporters. Service media projects model new process of social intervention based upon large social and civic needs.

In 2005,1 appointed myself artist-in-residence of the FortyFouth and Forty-Sixth Wards in Chicago's Lakeview East neighborhood, where I have lived since 2004. I challenged myself to initiate collaborative art projects in this neighborhood, with the idea that I might be able to offer the community new views of their (and my) familiar urban landscape. Moreover, I hoped that the community might create a new vision, or several, for itself. I called this project Art 44.46, and my role as "curator" was to encourage, develop, and support collaborative ventures among merchants, citizens, and artists. The two guiding principles for the project were that artists must produce work informed by site responses, and also enthusiastically and earnestly collaborate with merchants and other members of the community. The project attracted many notable Chicago artists: Kevin Kaempf, D. Denenge Akpem, Stephanie Brooks, Juan Angel Chavez, Inger Lena Gassmyr, Tiffany Holmes, Judd Morrissey, and Mark Jefferies. Artist stipends were provided by the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce as part of a unique partnership in which artists produced ephemeral works that were exhibited throughout the month of October, to coincide with Chicago Artists Month.

Andy Hall describes his Art 44.46 project, Zip Car Cartage (2007), as "a collaborative effort to engage awareness through good humor and dedication to the environment." In a landmark collaboration between Chicago's Department of the Environment and the Goose Island recycling facility, Hall was appointed artist in residence at the recycling plant for the duration of his Art 44.46 project. Partnering also with Zip Car (a shared car company), Hall encouraged residents of the two wards to use his free service to recycle their e-waste, household chemicals, and surplus paint. After either contacting Hall via e-mail, or dropping off their waste at the Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce, residents were able to easily participate in a recycling program—a change they met with great enthusiasm.

While it may not have been obvious to the community that they where participating in an art project, this kind of knowledge was not Hall's concern. Works in service media present ideas and concepts within an art context, but this context does not necessarily need to be made overt. Rather, the performance

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and endurance action of the artist assists in creating a space for art in daily life. Service is the "medium" and community dialogue follows as part of a kind of chain reaction. The support structures necessitated by the complexity of Zip Car Cartage resulted in a citywide conversation in which the issue of collaboration in relation to the greening of the environment was the focal point. In his role as outsider and artist, Hall was able to transcend the political and social status quo of the neighborhood to make meaningful art on location.

Another Art 44.46 artist, David Parker, combined performance and. sculpture to create a hybrid work meant to raise consciousness about water conservation. Acting as a "contemporary town crier," Parker dressed in yellow rain gear and walked the streets pulling a rolling sculpture made of a rain collection barrel and a "floating cloud" of empty water bottles.

Appearing three days a week throughout the month, Parker conversed with whoever approached, dispensing bookmarks printed with ideas to conserve water and the web address of Chicago's Department of Environment, where people could learn more about conservation. This work gave community members an unusual opportunity to engage with the city, first by piquing their curiosity, and then by providing them a space in which to learn more about their neighborhood. The success of Parker's piece was directly related to the level of community participation, and without it, the work would have failed.

Of course, there are varying levels of participation in service media art, since each piece is site specific. Artist Inger Lena Gassmyr created a work that required especially active participation: Graknitti (2006) was a collaborative piece in which the artist offered knitting workshops on the streets of Lakeview East. Advertised via a website, the workshops produced colorful "sweaters" for the trunks of trees, a process which Gassmyr envisioned as a way to offer "participation and learning." Both knitting enthusiasts and first-time learners were encouraged to participate, and more than thirty people took part. The workshops provided a social space of commonality and exchange where neighbors could meet one another as they collaborated on a shared, ephemeral art action. In the process, the artist sought a connection with environmental issues like global warming, while also providing the knitters with an intimate medium with which to reclaim their urban realm.

As artists continue to extend their explorations of public space, this new role as service ombudsman is ripe for expansion. The dialogue, collaborative exchange, and experimentation that are integral to service media can stimulate awareness and change, with the goal to aid in the creation of a socially sustainable environment.

STUART KEELER is an artist of public spaces, active with all art genres, from temporal to fixed. He teaches at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.

ABOVE: David Parker, in yellow rain gear, conversing and dispensing bookmarks promoting water conservation, 2007.

BELOW: Inger Lena Gassemyr, Ershnitli, 2006. One of several "tree sweaters" created during community knitting workshops.

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John T. Unger, Vista Project, 2008. Vistas is a series of identical sculptures designed for site-specific installation in multiple locations, Vista windows are intended to call attention to unexpected beauty. Sculptures may be ordered from Unger's website-www.johntunger.com-where the public can submit photos of and vote on proposed locations, discuss the project, and participate in the project.

Listening to Michigan artist John Unger discuss his many online collaborations with other Internet-savvy artists can be a dizzying experience. For instance, he's currently involved in assisting an Idaho-based sculptor named Don Brigham, who is constructing a 100-yard, S-curving earthwork in Snake River Canyon. Brigham discovered Unger's fiberglass-based work online and e-mailed him requesting that he create a mosaic serpent head to fit at one end of the giant stone sculpture.

"Snake River experiences sub-freezing temperatures, which means I'm going to need concrete," explains Unger.

"Unfortunately, I don't work with concrete, so I'm using the Web to locate someone in Lewiston, Idaho, who can help me out." For the next few weeks, Unger will e-mail Photoshop files of his mosaic work to Brigham and an engineer until they are satisfied. "We need to make sure the concrete is up to snuff," he says. "And I need to confirm that the style of the head I'm designing works with what the engineer is doing on a technical level. Also, the snakehead needs to be friendly enough for kids to want to approach it. Aside from the mosaic work, I'll be conducting everything else from my computer in the middle of nowhere, Michigan." More importantly, Unger won't arrive on site at Snake River until it's time for the actual installation.

Today, of course, it's increasingly expected that artists know their way around the Web, and that they grasp how to use specific software programs. For Unger, the Internet has opened up whole new areas of exploration in his career as an artist, allowing him to collaborate with people all over the world instead of being limited to the people and places around him. And web crawlers like Unger are working to make things even more connected and open, by rethinking the role of public art and artistic collaboration in light of the open-source movement.

Open source is a set of principles and practices regarding how to write and use computer software. Literally, "open source" means that the software's source code is available to any and all users. Of course, the term has bled into other areas, including the music and art worlds, where the notion of sharing a good concept or idea has really caught on. And with the Internet's increasing ability to emphasize feedback, participation, community, and collaboration, there is now an opportunity to revolutionize approaches to art and public space.

"The Internet is a fascinating kind of public space, because you have no idea about who will eventually find their way to your art, and it expands the range of possibilities about

(iiKiil Wide Open Can the Internet and open-source technology expand the limits of public art?

JARRET KEENE

whom you will end up collaborating with." says Sal Randolph, founder of Opsound, a music label inspired by the model of open-source software. "Of course, we're not talking about collaboration in the traditional sense, where two people wrestle over a final product, but rather collective production."

Randolph is particularly interested in open-access collaboration, where structures are put into place allowing anyone to participate. (The best-known example of this kind of communal effort is Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia written by volunteers around the world, and edited by anyone with access to the Internet.) An open-access structure allows people to curate themselves.

"It's intriguing to think of ways that you can bring forth exciting content without having to exclude artists in an explicit way. And it's pretty amazing to think what has already been accomplished," Randolph says. "Open source is a major thought invention of copyleft [a term coined by the open-source software movement denoting an updated, expanding form of copyright protection], and serves as a counterforce to corporate trademark protection, which tries to privatize everybody's imagination.

"To let things be free—well, it's scary at first to let people into your show or give your music away. I know this firsthand.

But so far it's been fabulous."

In both guerrilla and traditional art circles, the intersection between public space and open-source technology has already demonstrated great promise. In terms of the former, there are projects like REBAR's PARK(ing) Intervention, which transforms a parking spot on a city street into a public space, complete with grass and a bench. Increasingly, downtowns lack public outdoor space, as much land in today's urban centers is devoted to private vehicles. By renting the space (i.e., plunking quarters in a meter), a small temporary public park is created that provides "nature, seating, and shade," as the REBAR Web site says.

This open-source idea eventually spread throughout the Bay Area—with sixteen parks by other groups in San Francisco and thirteen at the University of California, Berkeley—and around the world (from London to Rio de Janeiro). REBAR's Web site offers everything an aspiring public space maker needs to fashion his or her own temporary park, from the "pre-visualization" of a spot,

PARK(ing) Day installation by a team assembled by CLOSE Landscape Architecture+, Minneapolis, 2007.

to a "how-to manual," to a video trailer of a PARK(ing) intervention underway. If the mission of PARK(ing) Day is "to reprogram the urban surface by reclaiming streets for people to rest, relax, and play," then this open-source idea, which comes with a Creative Commons license so artists in other cities can replicate a PARK(ing) intervention, is ready to go right off the shelf. (A Creative Commons license allows an artist, or copyright holder, to grant some or all of her rights to the public while retaining others through a variety of licensing and contract schemes including dedication to the public domain or open content licensing terms.)

REBAR's open-source idea continues to spread via the Internet. It is not really guerrilla art, since the implementation was made possible with support from the Trust for Public Land. A PARK(ing) intervention remains an appealing project for many nonprofit groups due to its temporary nature. But guerrilla public art, too, has made itself felt in the public space of America, thanks to individuals like Ryan Watkins-Hughes, twenty-eight-year-old Brooklyn photographer, who teamed up with friends in late 2007 to "shopdrop."

Although he isn't technically the first shopdropping artist.

Watkins-Hughes has earned the most notoriety for his Creative Commons-licensed form of "culture-jamming." By covertly altering the packaging of canned goods with original art and photography and then placing those items back onto grocery store shelves, he and his fellow shopdroppers are at the vanguard

The degree to which collaboration can occur depends entirely on the degree to which self-confidence and mutual respect do, and egotism and territorial imperatives do not, characterize either artist or architect.

- Rebecca Barnes, architect

Ryan Watkins-Hughes, Shopdropping installation, Brooklyn, NY, 2007. Altered canned goods are covertly replaced on the shelf with UPC codes intact, allowing purchase and restocking.

See video at www.shopdropping.net.

of a playful/critical art movement. Watkins-Hughes credits the Internet with luring street art from the margins and pushing it into the mainstream.

"The Internet offers a way of documenting street art," he points out. "For example, if someone is orchestrating a collaborative graffiti project in Perth, Australia, then the Internet makes it possible for that artist's concepts to reach a worldwide audience. Open-source computing is on the forefront of these ideas and, in terms of technology, open-source art is by its nature a collaborative effort. People can have access to the source code or the source ideas. From a philosophical standpoint, I think open source is an interesting metaphor to apply to one's own artwork."

So far the traditional art establishment has been slow in acknowledging open-source concepts like shopdropping, but Watkins-Hughes insists that plenty of grassroots and underground arts organizations have expressed interest in what he does.

"My work has been discussed far more in non-art forums than in art publications," he laughs. "For instance, our shop-

dropping project was most recently featured in the news sections of The New York Times. I joke with my friends that I'll just keep making news and worry about whether it's art later on." With the increasing advances in Internet technology and community-based computing, however, "later on" may be sooner than many people realize.

Ultimately, the Internet and open-source technology offer a major opportunity for the creative community to reinvestigate public art-making. A large-scale open-source public-art project has yet to reach even the drawing-board stages. But all it takes, Unger insists, is for someone to grab the proverbial bull by the horns.

In his 2005 essay "Open Source Public Art: A Proposed Model," which is available for perusal on his blog, Unger notes that "public-art projects have the potential to unite or divide communities. Public artworks have proven to have a highly beneficial impact when community residents feel they have been consulted, informed, involved, and invited to participate.

When a community feels a large-scale project has been conducted without its involvement, complaints and ill will are likely to arise."

With the advent of free Internet software like Flickr (photosharing), GoogleMaps, voting widgets (a third-party program or software that you can embed anywhere), and blog comments, it would be interesting, says Unger, to see someone create a package deal, a basic format that could be retooled to meet the needs of communities. After all, in most public-art projects, there are at least four entities that must achieve a "degree of consensus:" the community, the public space, the artist(s), and the funding body. What Unger would like to see someone build is an "online center for the creation of public art."

"What has frustrated me on the public-art projects I've done is that the outreach to the community consists of two city council members and nine kids from the school who helped us with the project," says Unger. "That's not really outreach to the community. I would like everyone to contribute. Maybe you'd only get a three percent uptake with the kind of Internet community collaboration I'm talking about. But in a large neighborhood, three percent is a heck of a lot of people."

Over the Web, more people can be reached using Craigslist, plain old e-mail, and all kinds of location-based web services.

In fact, says Unger, fundraising for a public-art project could be accomplished through the Web, whether with cash or in-kind donations, thereby implementing fundraising approaches all over the Web. What's even more revolutionary is that anyone—artist, community representative, owner of a potential site, funding body—could initiate a project. Communication and organization for a project would be made possible via the following: discussion on bulletin boards, blogs, or wikis; community review in the form of discussion and revision of posted images, allowing community members to vote on proposed designs and submit their own ideas in a visual format; and tracking spending in public, making the accounting transparent.

And what about an open-source website that offers a collection of resources, techniques, and accumulated wisdom on public art based on artists' and communities' experiences—or even a permanent archive of public art projects, with documentation of the entire process from start to finish, available online?

This might include archives of discussions, design revisions, photos or video of work in progress, and of the completed work.

In short, open-source sharing on this scale could be not only a vast expansion, but even a sort of redefinition, of public art.

JARRET KEENE is the art critic for Las Vegas CityLife.

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WORKING TOGETHER: TOWARD A T H E O R Y O F COLLABORATION JOSEPH H A R T

If you're in search of an effective model of collaborative process, look to the humble ant. That's the advice of R. Keith Sawyer, a psychologist at Washington University in St. Louis with a background in computer science and artificial intelligence, and the author of Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration (Basic Books, 2007).

Sawyer is one of a legion of researchers of various stripes— psychologists, sociologists, economists, computer scientists, biologists—who are investigating the nature of collaboration. As yet, they have produced no unified theory of collaboration, but their insights offer fertile territory for artists who work in collaborative settings.

geese, and even on the molecular level—the properties of water, for example, which are emergent from the "collaboration" between the two gases, hydrogen and oxygen.

When it comes to social beings, like ants or humans, Sawyer has identified a handful of properties common to collaboration. For one, the whole is greater than sum of its parts—the outcome of a collaboration, in other words, can't be explained by any one member of the group.

"If you have a group of artists working together," he explains, "even if you know everything they've ever done in the past, they get together and something new emerges. It's not possible to explain what they did in terms of the individual members of the group." A related property of emergence is that it's unpredictable; in true collaboration, not even the participants can anticipate the outcome. Finally, it requires some form of communication, and among humans, that's where the complexity really comes in.

In the art world, a microcosm of the world at large, the interest in collaboration is frequently traced to the 1960s, when certain artists began not merely to collaborate on artworks, but to make the process of collaboration a central theme of the work. Susan Sollins, a critic, curator, and executive producer of the PBS series Art: 21. in an essay on the online Collaborative Arts forum, points to groups like the Guerrilla Girls and collaborative partners like Gilbert & George as examples of artists who "practice a kind of cooperative individualism." Even earlier incarnations of what we would today call collaborative practice include the Dada artists of the early 20th centurv.

In true collaboration, not even the participants can anticipate the outcome.

In his quest to understand exactly what happens when we work together closely. Sawyer spent thousands of hours on field research. He not only became an ardent groupie of jazz clubs and improv venues, but he became a "participant observer" in Chicago's music and theater scenes. What he learned playing piano with jazz combos, performing with black-box troupes, and poring over videotaped performances in his spare time, is that these two art forms—highly collaborative, improvisational, and group-dependent—are an extreme form of what happens every time we work together, or even engage in focused conversation.

Anyone who's had a positive experience working on a project with people they trust can attest to the mysterious alchemy we call collaboration; when it's really cooking, it feels like magic. But according to Sawyer, collaboration actually is an example of a common, if complex, natural phenomenon called "emergence."

Take the ant colony. "There's no 'planner ant' who says where all the tunnels are going to be," he explains. "It simply emerges in a complex and unpredictable way from the behavior of the group."

Once you start looking for them, you see emergent phenomena all over the place. Not only in insect colonies among ants and bees, but in the flight patterns of a flock of starlings or

Success is assured when everyone pitches in with a will.

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On close examination, however, the myth of the solitary artist, against which these groups were and are reacting, appears to have been, well, a myth from the beginning. Vera John-Steiner, a psycholinguist at the University of New Mexico, cites Pablo Picasso as just one example. A giant of artistic achievement who, thirty-five years after his death, continues to have multiple major exhibitions year after year, Picasso is nothing if not a heroic individual figure in the world of art.

Yet John-Steiner points out that the chief product of Picasso's genius, the "invention" of Cubism, springs from his close collaboration with Georges Braque for several years in Paris before the outbreak of World War I. "The dominant metaphor they used to describe their relationship was two people roped together on a mountain," says John-Steiner, who studied the documentation of their work together for her book Creative Collaboration (Oxford University Press, paperback 2006). "They wanted to break from the past," says John-Steiner, "that task was sufficiently major to require collaboration." (John-Steiner argues that these close, intense relationships are generally the ones that result in radical change.)

Braque and Picasso's collaboration was hardly unique, says John-Steiner. The Impressionists worked side-by-side, painting the same subjects, and then retreated to the cafes to discuss their work. "They were not so worried about borrowing too much from each other as providing emotional support for early rejection," she says.

Even as solitary an art as literature has its collaborative aspects. J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis, Sawyer reminds us, were a pair of Oxford professors who shared a fascination with mythology—and shared the pages of their manuscripts too—over drinks at a local pub, along with a dozen other writers. "In a sense, The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of

Narnia are just two different windows on this collaborative circle," Sawyer says.

The question of just exactly what collaboration is and how we can foster it has taken on increasing urgency in recent years.

This is because collaboration, arguably, is a dominant structural paradigm of our current age. Increasingly, social structures like the nation and the hierarchical organization are being challenged by loose collaborative structures like the community and the team. The internet, with its leveling effect and wiki-like focus on social networking, has helped advance this shift. Through interviews and in-depth studies, John-Steiner has identified a continuum of collaborative relationships today, ranging from informal topical groups like e-mail networks to intense, trusting "integrative and transformative" relationships in which the individual roles are "braided together."

Within the art world, collaboration has taken on a similar variety of new forms. In the recent book Taking the Matter Into Common Hands: On Contemporary Art and Collaborative Practice (see review on page 75), Swedish curator Maria Lind and her co-editors present a series of articles by and about new art collectives and collaboratives across Europe, groups that run the gamut from a bogus lobbying firm that ironically advocates human trafficking—a satirical business in the mold of the U.S.-based anticorporate interventionists the Yes Men—to a loose group of performer-adventurers who crossed the Balkans inventing community-friendly art happenings as they went. Nearly all the groups work with the public and many are overtly political.

In a context-giving introductory essay, Lind points out that "the motivation behind today's collaborations differ radically. A common explanation is the wish to practice generosity and sharing as an alternative to contemporary individualism and

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the traditional role of the romantic artist as a solitary genius.

Self-determination in an ever more instrumentalized art world, both commercially and publicly, and a desire to be a more powerful force in society have also been mentioned as important motivations."

By placing collaborative practice itself at the center of their work, rather than seeing it as a mere means of producing art, groups like these are moving even further from the "solitary genius" model than artists like Gilbert & George, who might be called by comparison "collaborative geniuses." Instead, they draw a wide range of artists and members of the public into a web of participatory collaboration that can look a lot like social community.

John-Steiner describes one of the benefits of this web as a literal expansion of the mind. "In order for the human brain to be efficient, it lays down certain networks of connections that get stronger and stronger, while others get deleted." she explains. The magic of collaborative outcomes exceeding the sum of the participants has to do with bumping up against brains that have developed different sorts of efficiencies. "When you work with somebody who has a different set of fluencies, you activate in your own mind things that have been discarded or put on the margin," she explains.

The hallmarks of successful collaboration are trust, a shared worldview, patience, risk tolerance, and a sense that, as John-Steiner puts it, "what we can accomplish together is more important than being the one who is always right." Generally

LEFT: The Yes Men attempt to change the course of the 2004 presidential election.

RIGHT: Gilbert & George near their home in East London, 2007. (Gilbert is on the right.)

speaking, the participants must have enough self-knowledge to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, the ability and patience to negotiate, a common vision, a genuine love for the activity, and an ability to take risks.

But the most important quality of successful collaboration, she says, is trust. There's a social dimension to this—collaboration requires openness and honesty. More subtle is the notion of trust in collaboration itself. "You have to be able to say that what we can accomplish together is more important than being the one who always wins," she explains, "and understand that the product of our joint effort has a greater impact than what any of us could do alone."

If this is true, the implications of collaborative practice in an increasingly fragmented and niche-obsessed culture are indeed radical, and include not only activating the brain's capacity to think fully but, says John-Steiner, compromise and mutual caretaking. "We're learning that unless we develop some of those skills, as a culture we are headed for catastrophe," she says. " T h e implications go far beyond the field of creativity."

JOSEPH HART is a freelance Wisconsin.

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A R T I S T P A G E (page 40) Visual and verbal artist Helen Lessick collaborates with people, places, and systems to realize public projects. Current work includes a permanent landscape poem for a Los Angeles air treatment facility and residency with the West Palm Beach Florida Water Department. Her contribution to this issue of Public Art Review is titled I.C.A.T.: Interactive Collaboration Assessment Tool, and is meant to serve as an interactive grid/menu that allows artists and administrators to rate the quality of their collaborations, using a garden metaphor. See more of Lessick's work at www.lessick.net.

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Artistic Collaboration and the Law BARBARA T. HOFFMAN

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The notion of a design team, or collaboration between or among artists, architects, and landscape architects, offers exciting possibilities to everyone involved. But the history of public art shows that collaborations are fraught with difficulty and can pose a high risk of failure unless practical and legal steps are taken at the beginning of the joint project.

It's a good idea for any design team or other form of artistic collaboration to have a common understanding of the meaning of their collaboration, as well as a contract which sets forth the intent of the collaborators, makes copyright ownership and credit explicit, and anticipates what will happen if the collaboration fails.

A recent imbroglio between architect Ken Smith and artist Mary Miss illustrates several of the practical and legal difficulties which may arise if the partners don't share a common understanding of the nature of the collaboration and draw up a written agreement prior to embarking on the project.

In April 2005, The Orange County Great Park Corporation (OCGPC) issued a letter of invitation to participate in a competition to select the master designer of the first great metropolitan park to be built in the United States in the twenty-first century, on the site of the old El Toro Marine Corps Air Station near Irvine, California.

Public artist Mary Miss and Ken Smith, a New York-based landscape architect, were asked separately to participate in the competition, but at the urging of Smith, Miss joined a design team that he put together. The team entered the competition as "Ken Smith, Landscape Architect of New York in partnership with Ten-Arquitectos of Mexico City, Mary Miss Studio of New York, Mia Lehrer and Associates of Los Angeles, and Steven Handel, ecologist." The team was the only group to present itself as a collaborative design team during the interviews. Miss, who normally is careful with these issues, was collaborating with Smith successfully on a project at the Railyard Park and Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and relied on their prior working experience, his understanding of her artistic philosophy, and their friendship—rather than a written contract.

At the request of the OCGPC, the design team had added a professional construction management firm to the team prior to winning the competition. The firm had experience managing municipal, hospital, and mixed-use projects but little or no experience in managing a collaborative design team incorporating an artistic vision.

In January 2006, the team won the competition and was selected collectively as the "master designer." The construction management firm and Ken Smith's office set up a joint venture called the Great Park Design Studio in Irvine, Califor-

nia. Miss understood that the joint venture was intended solely to facilitate interaction with the client. But almost immediately, the Great Park Design Studio began to promote the idea that Ken Smith, not the design team as a whole, was the master designer. Smith and the Great Park Design Studio demanded, and got, control of all publicity, public relations, and relations with the client.

Here, as is often the case, a legal structure imposed upon a project influenced relationships. Often a client will award a contract to an architect, and then the architect will subcontract or hire as consultants the other members of the design team. Although the arrangement is usually a matter of convenience, it has the potential to create a hierarchal relationship in which all concepts and ideas are filtered through a leader, rather than one in which all members of the team contribute as equals. (This is much less likely to occur if the client contracts with each member of the design team individually and then establishes a mechanism for communication among the design team members, as well as with the client, in a written agreement.)

In April 2006, when presented with an agreement that would make her a consultant for the Great Park Design Studio rather than a full-fledged collaborator on the project, Miss declined to sign; in her view, the top-down organizational structure contradicted her original understanding with Ken Smith. She worked on the first phase of the project for time and materials without signing the agreement.

Frustrated, Miss resigned from the OCGPC project in January of 2007 to pursue in depth the concept she had taken the lead in developing after winning the competition: "The Park as Living Laboratory." She refers to it as "a research and residency center where artists work together with experts from other fields—ecologists, historians, sociologists, for example— to generate new ideas for making social and environmental sustainability tangible experiences for park visitors." In a bit of revisionist history, Miss's contributions are no longer acknowledged on the organization's website.

Miss, a client with whom I have collaborated on numerous projects over the years, shared these thoughts in an e-mail: "I can only say that I believe we have missed the opportunity of a lifetime to have a truly integrated approach to the public domain, to develop a new and collaborative way of thinking that is larger than any single person's vision. There is a difference between a 'team leader' for administrative convenience and a 'master designer.' The concept of a master designer, the first among purported equals, is the antithesis of a true col-

"The concept of a master designer, the first among purported equals, is the antithesis of a true collaboration, which engages and harnesses creative output as a democratic process."

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Art Interventions A

Boundaries Neighborhood & Park Permeability

Circulation heirarchy & usage

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Utilities Hydrology and Energy

Canyon Microclimate & Biofiltration

Wildlife Corridors/Ecosystems

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ABOVE: Mary Miss's concept of "Park as Living Laboratory," described in more detail at www.marymiss.com.

BELOW: Rendering from the Orange County Great Park Comprehensive Master Plan, with orange sightseeing balloon, now in operation.

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ABOVE: Ken Smith at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, near Irvine, Calif., the site of the Orange County Great Park. BELOW: Aerial photograph of the site.

laboration, which engages and harnesses creative output as a democratic process."

Contractual issues and the collaborators' understanding of what they are doing together are inextricably intertwined with copyright issues. Copyright is an intangible bundle of rights created by federal law which gives the owner the right to control the work, including the right to reproduce the work, display the work, or create derivative works.

(For certain narrowly defined works of visual art, the artist also has a right to prevent the intentional alteration of the work, if that would be harmful to her reputation, and to prevent its destruction if the work is of "recognized stature." The law, known as the Visual Artists' Rights Act, or VARA, also provides a right of attribution. VARA rights are independent of the artist's rights of copyright and apply even if the artist is not the copyright owner.)

Whether a work is viewed as an independent creation or a collaborative work is significant for the ownership of intellectual property and the ability to control its use. In the Mary Miss/Ken Smith case, if Miss's part in the design process had been viewed as her independent contribution, then no other member of the team could have reproduced her copyrighted designs, or used them in any other way, without her written approval. In the OCGPC case, of course, work that she did for the competition was presented to the public as part of a collaborative master plan. (The copyright in "The Park as Living Laboratory," however, has been registered by Miss.)

Different rules would apply if the work were considered a joint work. According to the Copyright Act, a joint work "is a work prepared by two or more authors with the intention that their contributions be merged into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole." Thus, in order to create joint authorship, each person must (1) intend to create a joint work; and (2) contribute copyrightable material.

In attempting to establish that a copyrighted work is a joint one, it is not sufficient that the authors simply collaborated with each other. Rather, the party seeking to demonstrate joint authorship must establish that each of the authors prepared his or her contribution with the knowledge and intention that it would be merged with the contributions of other authors as inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole. (The touchstone here is the intention at the time of the creation of the work.) As long as he or she can meet these criteria for joint

authorship, even someone whose contribution is relatively minor enjoys all the benefits of joint ownership.

That takes care of the "joint" part of the issue. But what, according to the law, is authorship, and what is "copyrightable material?" The Copyright Act provides that ownership vests initially in the author or authors of the work. And the author of a work is a person who translates an idea into a fixed, tangible expression entitled to copyright protection. This means that not everybody who works on a joint project is necessarily an author of the work. Without a written agreement, input from members of a collaborative group that does not result in a tangible form of expression may not be copyrightable independently. Ideas, refinements, verbal concepts, and suggestions, standing alone, are not the subject of copyright unless there has been an explicit agreement that they will be considered part of authorship, or it can be shown that they have produced these all-important tangible contributions to the work.

Once joint authorship is established, the authors are coowners of the copyright in the work. Co-owners of a copyright are generally treated as "tenants in common," which means that in the absence of a written contract that specifies otherwise, each co-owner has an independent right to use or license the use of the work, subject to a duty of accounting to the other co-owners for any profits.

These issues always remind me of a scene in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass\ " 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said,...'it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.' 'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master—that's all."'

Without a contract, an artist could well become the victim of a Humpty Dumptyish collaborator—and the artist could be the one who "has a great fall"!

BARBARA T. HOFFMAN is an international cultural heritage, art, and intellectual property lawyer practicing in New York City. She has represented artists in private and public art commissions for more than twenty-five years.

A Response from Ken Smith The editors of Public Art Review invited landscape architect Ken Smith to respond to Barbara T. Hoffman's discussion of the circumstances around the departure of Mary Miss from the Orange County Great Park project. This is Smith's statement.

In April 2005, the Orange County Great Park Corporation invited forty design firms to respond to a request for qualifications for an invited conceptual design plan competition for the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, California. My firm, Ken Smith Landscape Architect, assembled a team that included architect Enrique Norten, ecologist Steven Handel, sustainability engineers Buro Happold, and Los Angeles-based landscape architect Mia Lehrer. I invited Mary Miss to join the team. She initially had planned to form her own team but instead signed on with the Ken Smith team. It was assembled as a multidisciplinary collaborative team, for which my firm served as the team lead and driving force.

As with most competitions of this type, the client, the Orange County Great Park Corporation, set forth the legal requirements for the competition. In their RFQ brief the corporation stated: "All design products, incidental materials and associated intellectual property submitted by a designer or design firm will become the exclusive property of the Corporation upon submission." The team received a competition fee of $50,000, which was used to cover hard costs and travel expenses.

In June 2005, our team was short-listed for the competition along with six others. In October 2005, the competitors were reduced to three finalist teams, including ours. At this time the corporation issued to each team a list of concerns that needed to be addressed before it made a final selection. In the case of the

Ken Smith team, the principal concern was its ability to manage a project of this size and complexity. In response, I invited Gafcon Inc., a California-based construction management firm, to join the team. All of the collaborators on the team were part of the discussions and decision to bring on Gafcon, a company with previous experience working with design teams in the design management of large-scale public projects in California.

On January 23, 2006, the Great Park Corporation Board selected our team for the project. The press statement issued by the board announcing the selection emphasized the Ken Smith firm's role as master designer and team lead: "On Monday, January 23, the Orange County Great Park Corporation Board of Directors enthusiastically selected Ken Smith Landscape Architect of New York, a world renowned landscape design firm, as Master Designer of the Orange County Great Park. Ken Smith and his team will be charged with the overall responsibility of creating the master design for the Orange County Great Park.

Ken Smith earned the support of two jury panels assembled to judge the designs of landscape architect firms competing to be master designer of the Orange County Great Park in an intense eight-month competitive process."

The corporation entered into an agreement for professional services requiring that the firms Ken Smith Landscape Architect and Gafcon form a joint venture for the purpose of holding the design contract for the project. The joint venture, known as the Great Park Design Studio, was legally designated as "prime consultant," with all other parties serving as sub-consultants and bound by the terms of the agreement with the Great Park Corporation Board. This is a common arrangement for projects of this scale. Mary Miss objected to being a sub-consultant and was unhappy with the corporation's joint venture requirements and their designation and promotion of the Ken Smith firm as the master designer.

All promotion, press releases, and public relations were originated and coordinated by the Orange County Great Park Corporation, which also maintained an active website and newsletter for the project. The corporation made sure all members of the collaborative team received press coverage. Following completion of the master-plan phase of work in January 2007, Mary Miss resigned from the project. Mary Miss played an important role as a member of the original multidisciplinary collaborative design team and her departure was regretted.

Orange County Great Park Comprehensive Master Plan.

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On the Move with the Revolving Museum DOREEN MANNING

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In 1984, artist Jerry Beck created his first collaborative art installation, The Little Train That Could... Show, a public artwork in twelve abandoned railroad cars on the Boston waterfront. Surrounding the cars was one of the city's largest commuter parking lots. Curious commuters could examine a boxcar by Lijia Brie filled with human figures made of fiberglass on a floor covered with cow bones, a forty-foot straw man with a video monitor for a third eye created by Danny Mydlack, and Bob Harmon's mixed media environment, in which he hand-carved an entire train car, among other surprises.

took over an abandoned baseball field and invited hundreds of young people and other community members to explore a range of issues from racism and sexism to violence, drugs, and climate change—but playfully. There was, for example, a 200-foot baseball bat equipped with a pitching booth, batting cage, and souvenir stand. Team uniforms bore the names Holy Ozones, Greenhouse Effects, and Acid Rain/gers.

Soon TRM began transforming wheeled vehicles in order to "roll out" into the community. In Night Train Lane (1990) artists turned six airline baggage carts into giant pieces of strange luggage, including a fourteen-foot-high The Little Train project shaman's bag by Vusumusi was planned and executed by Maduna, a doctor's bag by a mix of energetic and imagiJeff deCastro that dispensed native people of all ages and remedies, and Marlen Lugo's socioeconomic backgrounds, Puerto Rican Dream Purse, including dozens of artists, covered with hundreds of pilstudents, and homeless peolows. One of the most successple. The community collabofid projects was the I Scream rators learned everything—inArt project (1996-1999), in cluding the curatorial process, which a team of artists and marketing, insurance, and young people recycled a vinfunding—from scratch. From tage ice cream truck into a Water Dragon (detail), a 100-foot-long public artwork created by Jay Hungate in collaborathis offbeat project with its highly decorated multimedia tion with local artists, youth, and community members for the 2007 opening festivities of emphasis on empowerment, ARTventures, a site-specific public art series and performance event in Lowell, Mass. artmobile offering workshops The Revolving Museum In the background, Illuminated Smokestack by Jerry Beck and Jim Higgins, a montage of film, and performances in Lowell (TRM) was born. video, photographic, and text works involving local youth. neighborhoods.

Today, TRM is a nationThese creations and othally recognized, award-winers firmly established TRM as ning nonprofit organization a hybrid mix of art institution, carnival, and grassroots social based in Lowell, Massachusetts, dedicated to the proposition service agency, creating art practically out of nowhere with that public art shouldn't be merely accessible to community folks for whom art was often a new form of expression. members—it should directly involve them. Community memAfter years without a permanent home base, TRM set bers, particularly young people of various ethnicities, take madown roots in Lowell in 2002, in a 4,000-square-foot space jor roles in the actual planning and creation of TRM's primarily that was originally the Lowell Gas and Light Building, built site-specific projects. in 1859. The city—a onetime center of American industrial"There was no hierarchy established about who could and ism, the birthplace of Jack Kerouac, and today, a vibrant mix who couldn't be active in the process," Jerry Beck says. "My of working-class folk, immigrants, and upscale professionals— experience is that nothing transcends differences in race, culhas proved to be fertile ground for Beck's vision of communityture, religion, language, or nationality the way art does. And based art. with collaborative public art, absolutely everyone has a chance "The Revolving Museum has evolved from the new kid to participate, and in every imaginable way." on the block into the city's creative heartbeat," says LZ Nunn, With this spirit of collaboration fueling the fire, TRM went executive director of the Cultural Organization of Lowell. The on to revitalize other unusual, unused, and abandoned urban organization, she adds, "has mastered the art of gathering ideas spaces. In the Flying Wings Series: Night on George's Island from a host of community members, cultural leaders, and indi(1986), costumed performers "captured" members of the pubvidual artists to produce something that bubbles with energy." lic, transported them by ferryboat to a supposedly haunted A number of TRM programs focus on youth. The VisionCivil War fort on a Boston Harbor island, and then led them ary School helps high school and college students develop through the fort's catacombs to witness public artworks, film leadership skills through the creation of public art projects, exand sound installations, and performances. Daily Muse Project hibitions, and special events in collaboration with TRM staff(1987) was an interactive architectural structure built entirely ers Diana Coluntino and Alison Nesbitt. The Teen Arts Group of newspaper on a landfill site in New York City as part of (TAG), launched in 2002, provides guided opportunities for Creative Time's "Art on the Beach" series. Off-Season (1988)

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youth to develop their own projects, from start to finish. (TAG members maintain the Merrimack Mural Project, in which a new 150-foot mural is created every year on Merrimack Street, the most heavily trafficked street in the city.)

The ARTventures series, which ran through the summer of 2007, was the museum's most ambitious project to date. An interdisciplinary team of more than 1,000 artists, scientists, civic leaders, youth, and adult community members transformed three of Lowell's most historically significant yet underutilized urban sites. The six-month project included video projection, art installations, theatrical performances, and scientific demonstrations. "It was intended to connect Lowell's diverse past, present, and future by creating a bold vision of civic pride and unity," says Jerry Beck. Opening festivities featured a Native American powwow, a giant dragon sculpture made entirely of CDs (pictured at left), fire twirlers, Cambodian dancers, the cutting of a commemorative cake, and a series of giant video projections that illuminated an historic four-story smokestack.

The museum has also pioneered the fusion of public art and science, with art projects involving robotics and green technologies. "TRM is showing the way beyond traditional cultural categories," says Paul Marion, executive director of the Office of Outreach at the University of Massachusetts Lowell. "The museum has provided a valuable public space in which students and faculty have engaged the community. The benefits flow both ways."

Over the last couple years, TRM has been collaborating on "Green Dream Projects," with world renowned green chemist and TRM board member Dr. John Warner, president of the Warner Babcock Institute of Green Chemistry in Woburn, Mass.

This series of interconnected projects involves the participation of scientists, artists, educators, and young people collaborating on works of art and science. The public artworks will be developed to travel to college campuses, schools, festivals, museums, national parks, and other destinations, where artists and scientists will "set up camp" and organize community events and workshops promoting green chemistry, which Beck describes as "the design of chemical products and processes that reduce and/or eliminate the use and/or generation of hazardous substances." According to Beck, "the public artworks will create projects, products, and processes (both chemical and artistic) that will be beneficial to the natural environment, cultures, and the economy, as well as expand the role of arts in the exploration and communication of groundbreaking environmental, social and political developments."

Beck views the collaboration with Warner as one expression of the museum's diverse but interlocked set of goals. For one thing, "public art should challenge the boundary between artist and non-artist," Beck says. Collaboration, he argues, makes art more democratic, and ultimately, more life-changing. "When we create together, art is integrated back into the community, the place where all ideas and experiences originate. Rather than for the select few, art can be inclusive and available to everyone regardless of age, income, language, and ability." The museum also demonstrates that a community can be strengthened when its members are introduced to art. to one another, to contemporary social concerns, and to the artistic possibilities of their shared environment.

DOREEN MANNING is the former publisher of Beat magazine, a Massachusetts-based arts publication that she produced independently for seven years. She now runs the media relations company Beat Ballyhoo (beatballyhoo.com).

FROM THE TOP: Participants in ARTventure's Hamilton Mill Ruin Project, a public art project and performance in an abandoned mill complex, 2007. Laura Mayotte and UMass Lowell students created the Bis Wheel, as part of Revolving Museum's "LocalMotive" public art series, 2004-2005. Stay in School: SPOOL 500, a public art project in collaboration with the New England Quilt Museum, involved the racing of over 500 art cars that utilized spools as wheels, honoring Lowell's textile history, 2003-2004.

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Artists Sink in

at Immersive Kohler Factory Residency J. G. MIKULAY

Every day outside of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, 8,000 people go to work at the Kohler company headquarters and factory, busying themselves producing sinks, tubs, and toilets. On most days, four artists also work in the factory, producing art with the same materials, processes, and tools. These unlikely coworkers are partners in Arts/Industry, a factory-based artist residency program run by the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC).

While Arts/Industry fulfills the center's mission of art education and cultural exchange, Kohler executives support the program because it is good for business. Factory workers benefit from meeting and working alongside artists, and sometimes the creative ideas generated through this collaboration are translated into product innovations. (Another reason the program works is that the company CEO and the center's director are siblings and descendants of the company's founder.)

Arts/Industry's origins date to a 1973 JMKAC exhibition entitled The Plastic Earth, the center's first major invitational, which featured eighty-seven American artists working in clay.

As part of the exhibition opening, the participating artists and Kohler engineers and artisans were invited to explore connections among art, craft, and industrial ceramic technologies through demonstrations and dialogue. The success of this initial workshop inspired a four-week pilot residency in Kohler's pottery in the following year.

Next, the American Craft Council commissioned JMKAC to organize a 1975 national conference, "Industry and the Artist/ Craftsman," in which 150 artists participated. The conference featured tours and workshops in six local factories, including Kohler and nearby makers of furniture, kitchen equipment, toilet seats, and socks. Several more short-term residential workshops followed, and by 1984 the Arts/Industry program began operating year-round, offering artists residencies at the Kohler factory. To date, nearly 500 artists have participated in the program, which remains unique in its capacity to forge collaborative, creative partnerships between art and industry.

Each year, Arts/Industry offers between sixteen and twenty-two artists free housing, a weekly stipend, and around-theclock access to studio space and the Kohler factory, which consists of a vast complex housing a ceramic pottery facility with piped-in slip and massive kilns, an iron and brass foundry with a capacity for pep-set and sand mold making, and an enamel shop with thirty-six ovens. Residents also receive free materials, use of equipment, on-site technical assistance, and documentation services. Artists are typically in residence for two to six months, with four artists in residence at once.

Residents are artists from all over the world, working in every medium. They produce functional sculptures, site-specific installations, reliefs, murals, public art, and works for gallery and museum display. At the conclusion of their residency, each artist selects one work for Kohler's corporate collection and one for the JMKAC. These works are exhibited, and some are installed outdoors on an "art walk" through the village of Kohler.

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ABOVE: Jack Earl and Tom LaDousa, the Kohler factory's first artists-in-residence, with factory liason Clayton Hill in 1974. OPPOSITE PAGE: Artist Sibylle Peretti produced a series of slip-cast clay figures at the Kohler factory in 2007. Cast faces in process, from Rob Neilson's About Place, Mout Face, 2006.

Arts/Industry is coordinated by glass artist Beth Lipman.

According to Lipman, "Most artists come to the program with an interest in clay or metal, in bathrooms or Kohler products, in factory process, or in the use of multiples." Many artists also arrive for the residency with a commission or project in mind.

But, Lipman emphasizes, having access to the resources of a factory often challenges artists to shift their studio practices, becoming more collaborative, adventurous, and flexible as they find ways to work within the factory's climate and culture.

Kohler's factory craftspeople and engineers, called "associates," do not fabricate the artwork for the artists in residence.

Rather, they are available for consultation. Two full-time Arts/ Industry technicians, artists Gregory Brulla and Monty Stauffer, act as liaisons between artists and associates to arrange production help, scheduling, and access to materials. According to Lipman, the program is designed to foster experimentation, freedom, learning, and productivity.

Rob Neilson, a sculptor based in Appleton, Wisconsin, spent his recent Arts/Industry residency fabricating nearly four tons of sculpture for About Place, About Face, a $115,000 commission from the Los Angeles Metro Transit Authority for a new light-rail station set to open in late 2008 in the East Los Angeles neighborhood of Pico-Aliso. About Place, About Face features fifty-four oversized cast-iron portraits created from

digital scans of the faces of Pico-Aliso neighbors. Neilson used the scans to create molds and did all of his casting while in residence. According to Neilson, the Kohler associates "had a great reaction to the faces, because of the scale and level of realism in the portraits, and also because these are regular, everyday people like them."

Neilson found the collaborative and immersive aspects of the residency exciting. "It didn't matter if it was twelve noon or twelve midnight, the factory was running, the associates were pouring iron, and I was able to make my work," said Neilson.

One aspect of the residency that Neilson particularly appreciated was learning "the value of approaching the fabrication of sculpture with a manufacturer's mindset."

Arts/Industry welcomes applications for residencies, but the process is highly competitive. Residents are selected by a panel formed through the JMKAC. Selection criteria include quality of past work, feasibility of the proposed project, effect the residency will have upon the artist's practice, and the ability of the artist to work within the Arts/Industry framework.

Artists need not have experience working with industrial technologies or the Kohler's primary materials of clay, iron, and enamel. Public artists are frequently in residence.

While the Arts/Industry has many admirers, so far it has no peers. Lipman regularly fields inquiries, including recent interest in replicating the Arts/Industry model in San Francisco at Timbuk2 Designs. For now, for artists seeking an opportunity to produce work within a factory setting, this is it.

J. G. MIKULAY is assistant professor and public scholar of visual culture at the Herron School of Art and Design and at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

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Iowa West Public Art:

Bringing New Life to a River City LEA ROSSON DELONG

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On the Missouri River at the western edge of Iowa, Council Bluffs is where the West begins. The city's name commemorates the councils that tribal peoples held on these river bluffs, and natives and whites met there to negotiate later on. The city's early fortunes were formed by the provisioning of pioneers for the westward trek and by the railroad; in the nineteenth century, Council Bluffs was the fifth-largest rail center in the nation.

Its importance and wealth declined, and its urban neighbor across the river—Omaha—eventually absorbed Council Bluffs into a single sprawling metropolitan area. But this small city of about 60,000 people is enjoying a revival today, spurred on in part by the Iowa West Foundation (IWF). And the IWF is publicart-conscious in a major way.

In recognition of the role that art could play in its longrange goals for the area, IWF initiated a project known as the Iowa West Public Art (IWPA) program in 2004. Funded through gaming and investment, IWF is a large foundation for the size of the community it serves and was able to provide nine million dollars for the first phase of its art project. Led by the parent foundation's executive director and CEO, Todd Graham, the IWPA began with a nineteen-member stakeholders committee, composed of community leaders, government officials, and foundation representatives. The committee wanted to honor Council Bluffs' distinctive past (and recognize the works of art

and architecture already in the community) at the same time that it looked to the future—and, of course, it had no desire to imitate or compete with Omaha.

The group sought to highlight the distinct identity of Council Bluffs and also to demonstrate the power of art to transform the public spaces of their town. Taking the small scale of the city as a positive factor, they envisioned Council Bluffs as a single sculpture park in which art could benefit both traditional civic spaces and new regional attractions. According to Graham, the city is rapidly changing, attracting new businesses which, along with established ones, are recognizing the potential of public art in the area's overall economic strategy.

After a year's work, during which they consulted with the Saint Louis-based firm Public Art and Practice, the stakeholders committee presented a detailed master plan that focused on several high-profile sites. Partnering with the city, the IWPA has already installed major sculptures at five locations—only three years after its beginning.

The first installation was, appropriately, at Bayliss Park, the main civic plaza of Council Bluffs. When the park's historic fountain, built in the 1880s, was declared irreparable, the IWPA took the opportunity to not only replace the fixture, but to completely reconfigure and revitalize the park. The artist commissioned for this undertaking was Brower Hatcher,

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whose Mid-Ocean Studio is located in the arts community and educational institution known as the Steel Yard, in Providence, Rhode Island, and whose exquisitely engineered works have earned him an international reputation.

Hatcher devised a plaza anchored by his water sculpture, Wellspring. He added Oculus, a pavilion for performances, weddings, and other celebrations; planned a new paving that echoed and enhanced the geometries of his sculptures; and designed flexible public seating for the anticipated influx of visitors at the park (which has indeed occurred). Finally, he added six large bronze squirrels, which animate a children's play areaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;outsized animals that have been a hit with adults, too.

The success of this first project, which celebrated its opening in April 2007, has been followed by the installation of works by tv.'o other artists.

Local artist Deborah Masuoka has installed three sculptures, each nearly eight feet tall, in the historic downtown commercial area called the Haymarket district. Her semiabstract (but clearly recognizable) Rabbit Heads evoke an animal that was common on the prairies that surround Council Bluffs, but which has also adapted itself to an urban environment. These silicon-bronze forms add a note both naturalistic and fantastic to their business-as-usual surroundings.

William King has completed the installation of three large sculptures at the Mid-America Center, an arena and convention-center complex near the juncture of Interstates 29 and 80.

The Mid-America campus was an appropriate place to start on the IWPA's goal of highlighting the "gateways" to Council Bluffs; the area has historically been a crossroads, and King's works commemorate both historic and current comings and goings. Sunrise is a twenty-four-foot-high aluminum image of a pioneer man and a long-skirted pioneer woman who stand

ABOVE: Deborah Masuoka, Rabbit Heads, during installation in October 2007.

OPPOSITE PAGE: Aerial view of Brower Hatcher's Wellspring and Oculus in Bayliss Park in downtown Council Bluffs, Iowa.

with their arms extended straight out, as if saluting the sun or expressing awe at the prospect in front of them. Overlooking the big (and growing) highway is Interstate, a geometric aluminum driver leaning back in her car seat, pressing the pedal to the metal in a horizontal cross-country zoom. Nearby is King's twenty-three-foot Circus, two linear figures, one balanced upside down on the knees of the other. King manages to combine the fun of acrobatics with suggestions of careful poise and equilibriumâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a playful but intriguing note to highlight an emerging entertainment destination that hosts athletic events, concerts, and trade shows.

Public and media response to these innovations in the cityscape of Council Bluffs has been positive so far, and IWPA is now planning to launch a second phase of its plan to make the city a significant business and cultural destination. Director Graham, with his various supporting and selecting committees, has already initiated discussions for sculptures and installations at new sites, notably on the Missouri riverfront and again along Interstate 80. The internet giant Google is moving one of its campuses to Council Bluffs, bringing jobs and a $600 million investment to the area. The economic development that is one of the goals of Iowa West Foundation is happening, and its public art project is encouraging and humanizing that growth.

LEA ROSSON DELONG is a writer and curator Moines, Iowa.

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Legacy, completed in 2006, was a citywide effort directed by Joshua Sarantitis for Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program. After synthesizing ideas expressed during "town hall" meetings at the Constitution Center with scholars and historians, he designed a lasting representation of Lincoln's legacy and the abolition of slavery. The installed piece is composed of over one million glass tiles, hand-placed with the assistance of Tilepile, a computer program Sarantitis and Greg Barton developed specifically for large-scale glass mosaics. The girl in the mural holds a mandala from West Africa, worn for protection during the middle passage years. Above her hand a w o m a n represents her ancestors and her future self. Behind, stripes from the American flag morph into wooden planks representing the decks of slave ships. Nearby are images of an 1 800s slave map of Africa, a death mask, and shackles. She wears three coins, including an 1838 English abolitionist coin. The quote from Lincoln reads: "It is the eternal struggle between these two principlesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;right and wrongâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time, and will forever continue to struggle."

Photos by the artist. Mural Š City ol Philadelphia Mural Arts Program/Joshua Sarantitis.

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FEATURED STATE

Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Public Art in Philadelphia ROBIN RICE

On January 8, 2008, Philadelphians stood in line for up to two hours just to shake the hand of their new mayor, Michael Nutter. Campaigning months earlier in front of Robert Indiana's bicentennial LOVE sculpture (located at Fifteenth Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard), then-candidate Nutter vowed to increase the city's arts and culture funding by $1 million in his first year in office and by $6 million by the end of his first term.

He promised to reestablish the city's Office of Arts and Culture, dismantled by outgoing mayor John Street. Nutter has already begun discussions with regional arts leaders. Philadelphians are now wondering how his promises will play out in the town sometimes called "Sculpture City."

A survey by the Smithsonian a few years ago concluded that Philadelphia has the largest collection of public sculpture in the United States. Penny Balkin Bach, author of Public Art in Philadelphia (1992) and director of the city's Fairmount Park Art Association (FPAA), says, "There's a framework here that does not exist in other cities. There are organizations like ours that have a fantastic history of quality work and historic importance. This history is so long-standing that it practically parallels the history of American sculpture." Bach points out that with seven government programs, four private nonprofits dedicated to public art, and around three hundred additional

art organizations, "there are so many ways public art can happen in Philadelphia."

The FPAA, founded in 1872, is the nation's first private, nonprofit arts organization. It is responsible for establishing and maintaining many of Philadelphia's public artworks. In addition to one-off projects like Mark di Suvero's recently installed Iroquois on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the FPAA's on-going NewLand'Marks program will eventually site around sixteen already approved permanent projects into locations around the city.

The most recently completed NewLand'Marks project is Manayunk Stoops: Heart and Home (2006), conceived by Diane Pieri with Vicki Scuri Siteworks, and flanking the Manayunk Canal Towpath between Lock and Cotton Streets. Manayunk residents asked Pieri and Scuri to celebrate the culture of the working-class families for whom the factory community was originally built. Manayunk row houses increasingly attract young professionals, but among long-term residents, Pieri and Scuri observed what they call "a stoop culture," in which the small unroofed porches facilitate social activity and link life's public and domestic realms. Pieri spoke to one woman who chatted with her neighbor for twenty-five years from her stoop but had never been inside her neighbor's house. The towpath Stoops, each configured to its location and covered with allover designs in Venetian glass tesserae, are reminders of the past and a visual metaphor for the endless terraced flights of stairs ascending Manayunk's steep hills.

Back in 1959, Philadelphia was the first city to enact one percent for art programs. The first, adopted by the Redevelopment Authority (RDA), made the commissioning of new works of public art integral to the urban renewal process by private developers. The second mandated that government spend one percent for art in its own projects. You can't live in Philadelphia without passing Centre Square and an RDA star attraction, Claes Oldenburg's 1976 Clothespin, nestled in all its goofy streamlined verticality among high rise office buildings.

Commissioned by developer Jack Wolgin without community consultation, the Clothespin was once ridiculed as "plop art" but is now often voted the most popular sculpture in the city.

Near Centre Square and the city's official visitor's center, the silver-framed, undulating jade leaf forms of Barbara Grygutis's internally lit Lifelines rise from a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) station below street level. They invite passersby to look and perhaps walk down. One of twenty projected works in SEPTA's Art in Transit program, Lifelines has spectacularly transformed a previously

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LEFT: Robert Indiana, LOVf, 1976, John F. Kennedy Plaza, Philadelphia, Penn.

OPPOSITE PAGE (from the top): Barbara Grygutis, Lilelines, 2006; Mark di Suvero, Iroquois, 2007; Diane Pieri, Manayunlt Stoops: Heart and Home, 2006. All in Philadelphia, Penn.

|

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FEATURED STATE neglected, unsanitary—and even scary—public space at the Suburban Station Concourse (Sixteenth and John F. Kennedy Boulevard) into the welcoming meeting place it was originally intended to be.

Begun in 1998, Art in Transit will affect nearly twenty SEPTA stations along the Market Street elevated rail (the Market-Frankford line) as they are modernized and upgraded over a twenty-year period. Independent public art curator Marsha Moss is the consultant to the program.

The projects are quite varied. For a mainly residential and somewhat struggling neighborhood served by the station at Sixtieth Street and Market, architectural designer Victor Johnson and sculptor David Stephens turned their thoughts to what Moss describes as "transforming a functional component of the station's infrastructure into a canvas which expresses the vision, spirit and poetry of the community." The horizontal work will cantilever out from a boxed girder under the escalator platform and be seen from the street and the escalator. To Stephens, it resembles "an adventuresome billboard." Johnson's color photographs mounted on galvanized steel plates represent the neighborhood's past, present, and future and include images of kids who currently live nearby, as the artists themselves once did.

From afar, one encounters the gaze of three enormous, photographically rendered pairs of eyes—those of a mature woman, a teenaged boy, and a small girl—on the 350-foot wall of Benjamin Franklin High School (Broad and Spring Garden streets). Moving nearer, illusionism begins to degrade behind a filigree of blue-lettered words that are provocative yet fragmentary, like murmurs of overheard conversation. Phrases like "When the city is at peace...." resonate, open-ended.

Muralist Don Gensler's work for the Mural Arts Program (MAP) is typically based on videotapes and writings generated in workshops involving several populations. Process is intrinsic to Gensler's work. All Join Hands: The Visions of Peace Project was executed in conjunction with a number of programs including poetry workshops led by Carolyn Davis and John Timpane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

MAP, a nonprofit supported by an unusual combination of municipal and private financing, has been singled out for praise by Mayor Nutter, who served on its board for nine years.

MAP has given Philadelphia more murals that any other city in the world: 2,800 at last count. It makes bas relief, welded sculpture, and mosaics too, and offers classes and activities for young people. These include apprenticeships which can potentially guide a talented student into higher education and a career as a muralist.

This layering of programs reflects director Jane Golden's consistent desire to "look beyond a wall and look at a site in all its complexity and the context of the community. To do this we have to work with a team, not just a solo artist." MAP employs more than 400 artists annually. Many share Gensler's rejection of simple didactic muralism: "For me it's not necessary for everything to get explained for everybody. Public art can get us to see and interpret things in different ways."

If you are among the thirty-two million people annually entering or leaving the city through the Philadelphia International Airport, you'll see art. Leah Douglas, the airport's director of exhibitions, manages fifteen rotating exhibition sites within the sprawling facility. "I'm trying to meld two audiences," says Douglas, "people who are sophisticated art-goers and the general public." One of the airport's most popular displays was

FEATURED STATE

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a recent tribute to Philadelphia International Records (a.k.a.

Gamble and Huff), celebrating its thirty-five year history and an award from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The photographs, posters, and album covers installed by artist Buy Shaver had a sound trackâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a daily two-hour public address system broadcast of hit records produced by the label.

Sculptor Linda Brenner's solo Paulownia Project is a more typical airport piece. She celebrates Logan Circle on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, an important Philadelphia hub, by placing a diagram of the location in a sculptural installation carved from dying paulownia trees donated to her after they were removed from the site. (Logan Circle boasts an important piece of public art, the 1924 Swam1 Memorial Fountain, designed by Alexander Calder, father of the mobile-maker and son of the Calder who made the sculptures on Philadelphia's city hall. The fountain, a popular wading pool in summer, allegorizes the conjunction of three major waterways in the city.)

Brenner's carvings integrate the geometry of the stately parkway, designed by Jacques Greber in 1919, with the organic character of water and wood.

No discussion of Philadelphia public art can leave out Broadstreet Broadside, listed in Guinness World Records as the longest woodblock print ever made. On September 22, 2002, seven hundred people, twelve print departments, and

ABOVE: Don Gensler, /III Join Hands: Visions olPeace, 2006, Benjamin Franklin High School, Philadelphia, Penn.

BELOW: Philagrafika's Broadstreet Broadside meet

in 2002.

one steamroller met on Broad Street to make the 260-foot-long print, which depicted the history of printmaking. A number of Philadelphia organizations participated in the somewhat anarchistic project, which was led by the Philadelphia Print Collaborative (now Philagrafika), an organization dedicated to promoting and sustaining printmaking. Although Philagraphika is not primarily dedicated to public art, chief operating officer Thora Jacobson hints that it and collaborators might engage in more "major public interventions" in the future.

And the future of public art looks promising in the City of Brotherly Love. After all, it thrived in spite of eight years of mayoral neglect. What will it do, where will it go, in a more supportive environment?

ROBIN RICE is the co-author of Philadelphia Murals and the Stories They Tell (Temple University Press, 2002} and More Philadelphia Murals (2006), and an adjunct associate professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

FEATURED STATE

T h e r e ' s plenty of public a r t outside of P e n n s y l v a n i a ' s e a s t e r n a n d w e s t e r n m e t r o p o l i s e s .

Perhaps the most controversial project in the rural Keystone State is the proposed Flight National

Memorial

93

near Shanksville, which will c o m m e m o r a t e the passengers w h o attacked the

flight's A l - Q a e d a hijackers on September 11, 2 0 0 1 , forcing the jetliner to the g r o u n d .

A design competition for the memorial was announced on September 11, 2004. The winning entry, by Paul and Milena Murdoch of San Francisco, proposed a crescent-shaped enclosure of red maple trees, and design jury member Tom Burnett, Sr., whose son died in the crash, pointed out indignantly that the crescent is an Islamic symbol. The design has since been modified into a large circular wall embracing the natural bowl into which the airliner crashed, bisected by a black slate line describing the flight path of the plane. A dramatic "entry portal," memorial groves of maple, and preserved wetlands will carry through a theme of natural renewal.

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Gettysburg Cyclorama,

a 359-foot circular depiction of

the climactic Pickett's Charge of Confederate soldiers during the pivotal Civil War battle. French artist Paul

Philippoteaux created the work in four versions in 1883; the second version was displayed in Boston and then at the Gettysburg National Military Park until 2005, when it was removed for restoration. The gigantic work, one of the few remaining cyclorama paintings in America, is scheduled to be reinstalled at the park in the fall of 2008.

Angelo Ciotti is an environmental "reclamation artist" with earthworks in several locations in the Keystone State.

For the Twin Stupas Project, in Chicora, Butler County, he planted a 1 ,000-foot-diameter earth mound with birds-foot trefoil (to provide food and cover for turkey and other wild life) and linked it via a spiral structure to an inverted "dead mound" of sand and rock.

Just outside Philadelphia, the town of Abington's nearly 70-year-old art center maintains a 27-acre park entirely given over to exhibits of semipermanent, temporary, and ephemeral sculpture that responds to the park's woodland setting. In the words of its web site, the Abington Art Center Sculpture Park "lends itself to the development of sculpture that comments on human impact on the environment, reveals the cycles of nature, and uses natural materials."

Read Between the Signs, a "roadside intervention" along route 322 near the college town of Meadville, is a whimsical union of culture and nature. It's a 1,200-foot-long sculptural installation made entirely of abandoned road signs, attached to a chain-link fence around a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation facility. The signs are sculpted into representations of local institutions and peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;including farms, forests, and transportation workersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;some of which move under solar and wind power. Initiated in 2002, it's a collaborative community project coordinated by artist Amara Geffen, director of the Arts and Environment Initiative at Meadville's Allegheny College.

Meeker

FEATURED STATE

Postcards from Pittsburgh RENEE PIECHOCKI

60

Pittsburgh is celebrated for its many architectural gems, but what is not as well known is that in downtown, a neighborhood of a few square miles, the public can experience more than seventy works of art commissioned from the late 19th century until the present day.

In addition to the quality of the art collection, what is very interesting about it, especially to public art insiders, is how it came to be. A large number of the pieces were commissioned by private developers, many at the turn of the last century. In 1904, Henry Clay Frick commissioned Alexander Phimister to sculpt muscular lions for the entrance of his new skyscraper on Grant Street. For the lobby, he chose John La Farge to depict the goddess Fortuna balanced on her wheel in opalescent glass. Across the street, in 1986, Mellon Bank placed Scott Burton's Chairs for Six in the plaza of One Mellon Center, creating one of the best spots in the city to people-watch or have a small en-plein-air bookgroup meeting.

Downtown demonstrates one of the dominant features of the public art scene in the Steel City: the willingness of private patrons to support public work, and support it handsomely. In more recent years, public/private partnerships have flourished.

When Pittsburgh was creating its light rail system, the Port Authority commissioned artwork in the downtown stations.

Carol Brown, then the director of both the Allegheny County Department of Parks, Recreation, and Conservation and the Bureau of Cultural Programs, along with a selection commit-

ABOVE: Scott Burton, Mrs/or

Six, 1986, Pittsburgh.

BELOW: Louise Bourgeois (with Michael Graves & Associates and Daniel Urban), design for Agnes R. Katz Plaza, 1999.

tee, chose internationally known artists—including Sol Lewitt, Albert Paley, and Romare Bearden—as well as talented artists from Pittsburgh, including Jane Haskell, Kathleen Mulcahy, and Ron Desmett. The artworks were funded by private contributions and public transportation dollars.

When Ms. Brown became President and CEO of The Cultural Trust, a nonprofit agency that developed Pittsburgh's cultural district, she continued to commission artists to create works of art for public spaces in the district, often in teams.

Artist Louise Bourgeois worked with landscape architect Daniel Urban Kiley and architect Michael Graves on a plaza that features a monumental bronze fountain and eyeball-shaped benches of carved stone. Artist Ann Hamilton and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh worked together to create Allegheny Riverfront Park. Artist Robert Wilson worked with architect Richard Gluckman to create Sign of Light, a mysterious, meditative piece that is only visible at night. It is my favorite billboard in Pittsburgh and poses the question: what if all billboards were designed by artists?

When Pittsburgh was building a new convention center, the foundation and design communities advocated a "green" building that would add to the city's rich architectural history.

They also encouraged the owners, the Sports and Exhibition Authority, to commission art for the new facility. Funding for the venture was not put in place via the traditional percent-forart method, but through a public-private partnership involving state funds and private foundation dollars. The funding paid for an art plan, a well-run selection process, and the implementation of a variety of commissions. Jenny Holzer's For Pittsburgh is a major contribution to the city's skyline - a stream of blue LED lights that display, bit by bit, the complete texts of novels by Pittsburgh authors John Edgar Wideman, Thomas Bell, and Annie Dillard. Other artworks were commissioned for the fourth-floor terrace and an outside plaza. The commissions were complemented by purchased artwork by Pittsburgh artists for the center's lobbies and corridors.

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FEATURED STATE This public art activity in Pittsburgh has happened without percent-for-art funding or a traditional public art program.

That ongoing commitment to art in public places from philanthropic and corporate sources has stepped in to fill the gap. In many ways, there is a lot for other communities to be envious of here. A city, county, and state that have money for a public convention center, and private foundations that match millions of dollars for art? I would not have thought it possible until I lived here.

Another only-in-Pittsburgh story: The Romare Bearden artwork for the light-rail station now has to be moved because the station is being relocated. It is a large ceramic mural, a very untypical work for the artist, placed directly on the station wall. It's not easy to move. In many cities, it might not make it to its new home. It would live underground at its old location, in the dark of a subway tunnel, seen by no one. Here in Pittsburgh, private dollars will move the mural to the new station and place it at a prominent location designated by the station architect.

Besides corporate public art patrons, Pittsburgh also has private, non-profit organizations that regularly commission art for public spaces. For many years, the organizers of the Three Rivers Arts Festival have commissioned public art as part of the annual festival. Recently, the focus has been on temporary works of art, but a number of the steel sculptures located downtown were completed as part of Sculpturescape, an innovative artist residency program. The Sprout Fund, founded in 2001, has an extensive program that supports local artists and neighborhoods in the creation of more than 30 community murals. In addition, their Seed Award program has supported artist-initiated projects for art in public spaces.

These are great success stories, but there are certain consequences of not having a functioning public art program within city or county government, at a public authority, or at our local arts council that have been limiting to Pittsburgh.

(Actually, the city does have a percent for art ordinance, but it is not currently enforced.) Artists interested in creating art for public spaces often look outside of the region for ongoing opportunities. Some of our most talented artists have produced work in other cities but not here. At the same time, emerging artists here have not had ongoing opportunitiesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;other than self-initiated projectsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to explore the field of public art as a viable career path.

Then there is the issue of public art information and experience as a civic resource. Public art administrators do more than manage their own projects. The time they spend with colleagues demonstrating what public art administration entails (artist selection, design development, contracts, community review, working with contractors, insurance, legal issues, conservation, deaccessioning, gift policies, and educational programs) is a community service that benefits an entire city and region. When a community develops methods and standards for these aspects of public art, the knowledge that's gained stays in the community, and this makes for two good results: public art professionals and their allies don't have to reinvent the process every time a new situation arises, and means and methods can continue to evolve and become more streamlined and efficient.

Until recently, when a neighborhood development organization, architect, artist, or non-profit organization wanted to complete a work of art, there were limited resources for them to turn to in the community to learn about the process and best practices. However, when it comes to public art information

Romare Bearden, Pittsburgh Recollections, 1984, Gateway Center subway station, Pittsburgh (two views). This 60 x 13-foot tile mural was commissioned for $90,000 by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, and recently appraised at $15 million. The Heinz Endowments subsequently announced a gift of $250,000 to help pay for its restoration and relocation to a new station being built nearby.

and practice, our glass is becoming half full these days, maybe even three-quarters full. Thanks to private dollars and the will of partners in the public and private sectors to improve public art knowledge in the region, two new resources have been created. Through the leadership of The Heinz Endowments, the Office of Public Art (OPA) was formed in 2005. A public-private partnership between the City of Pittsburgh and the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, it is a non-commissioning program that is designed to help people with their public art ambitions.

OPA has a vast array of technical assistance projects and has developed resources for artists, including an on-line registry and an e-mail list of opportunities. In addition, the City of Pittsburgh hired a public art staff, also with assistance from the Heinz Endowments. In August 2007, Kim Baker, formerly with the City of Seattle, became the city's public art manager. It will be exciting to see city public art efforts flourish under her leadership.

RENEE PIECHOCKI is an artist and public and Tiffany Ludwig are the collaboration Their book Trappings: Stories of Women, was published by Rutgers University Press

art consultant.

She Two Girls Working.

Power and Clothing in 2007.

FEATURED STATE

Pittsburgh Picks by Renee Piechocki Pittsburgh's Office of Public Art has published two free guidebooks to art in public places in Pittsburgh. They are both available as free downloads at www.publicartpittsburgh.org. The projects on this page are featured in Downtown and Oakland tours.

The Puddler,

1939, 300 Sixth Avenue, Downtown

T h i s anonymous work of carved and colored glass depicts a work-

A Song to Nature by Victor David Breener, 1918, Oakland This piece makes me wonder if an artwork depicting a naked

er in the process of creating steel by the old puddling process. It is

woman being passionately embraced by a mythic creature could

best viewed at night, when fully lit.

be commissioned today.

Kraus Campo (detail) by Mel Bochner & Michael Van Valkenburgh, 2005, Carnegie Mellon Campus, Oakland

V24 / 7 / 365 by Jeremy B. Boyle and Gerard Damiani 2005, Strawberry Way, Downtown

This rooftop garden, with its undulating paths, can make one feel

A solar-powered sound system plays Boyle's ever-changing musi-

slightly disoriented, but within the tight geometry of the campus,

cal compositions, based on Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Workers and

it works.

residents hear new patterns each time they pass through the alley.

Transcendence JUNE 20th - AUGUST 2ist, 2 0 0 8

AN E X H I B I T I O N P R E S E N T E D BY

THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA MURAL ARTS PROGRAM & THE NATHAN CUMMINGS FOUNDATION

The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program has explored territories that can be insular or Isolating: race, religion, aging, victimization, ignorance, illness, even artistic perspective. When these barriers are lowered,the understanding of the participants can go well beyond their prior experience. This exhibition will explore those protects in which the public art process, subject matter or impact of the mural has served to broaden the perspectives of community members, artists, and even passersby.

Transcendence is on view by appointment only at: Nathan Cummings Foundation 475 10th Avenue (at 36th Street), 14th Floor New York, NY 'To make an appointment, please call (212) 787-7300

City of Philadelphia

M u r a l A r t s P r o g r a m T H E LINCOLN FINANCIAL MURAL A R T CENTER AT THE THOMAS EAKINS H O U S E 1 7 2 9 M O U N T V E R N O N S T R E E T , PHILADELPHIA, P A (215) 685 - 0 7 5 0

WWW.MURALARTS.ORG

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Via Partnership congratulates Forecast on 30 years of contributing to the growing field of public art!

We invite you to visit our new website and view a range of our extraordinary projects.

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B/vhen creativity meH www.accutrex.coc I S O 9 0 0 1 : 2 0 0 0 registered AccuTrex Products Inc 112 Southpointe Blvd .

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Public Art Master Planning Project Management Program Development

Emily Blumenfeld + Meridith McKinley PO Box 23167 St. Louis, MO 63156 tel: 314 664.5902 fax: 314 664.5908 e: art@viapartnership.com web: www.viapartnership.com Successful public art requires partnership.

O f f e r i n g a . f a c i l i t y w i t h t o d a y ' s m o s t advanced s t o n e - c u t t i n g e q u i p m e n t and e x p e r t c o n s u l t a t i o n 75-A Sculptor's Way Mercerville, NJ 08619 phone 6 0 9 - S 8 7 - 6 E 9 9 w w w . d i g i t a l s t o n e p r o j e c t . o r g i n f o l S d i g i t a l s t o n e p r o j e c f . o r g

www.mayer-of-munich.coi

Congratulations, Forecast Public Art! The publisher o f Public Art Review, Forecast P u b l i c A r t , turns 30 in 2008. Please join us in celebrating their success in p r o m o t i n g and s u p p o r t i n g public art around the w o r l d .

Your National Advisors: David Allen

Tom Fisher

jack Mackie

Penny Balkin Bach

Gretchen Freeman

Jennifer M c G r e g o r

Tom Bannister

Glenn Harper

Patricia Phillips

Ricardo Barreto

Mary Jane Jacob

Philip Pregill

Cathey Billian

Mark Johnstone

Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz

Fuller Cowles

Stephen Knapp

Shelly Willis

Greg Esser

Suzanne Lacy

ForecastPublicArt.org

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FORECAST frpubli PublicArt YEARS

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FORECAST T U R N S T H I R T Y / 2008:

1978:

foreco/t

PUBLIC ARTSPACE PRODUCTIONS

CELEBRATE

30 ^ ^

The big public art news story is right here in our office: Forecast is thirty years old. Hard to believe we've been doing this for three decades (although Public Art Review didn't come along until 1989). Also this year, our home state of Minnesota celebrates its one-hundred and fiftieth birthday—that means we're one-fifth as old as the state.

It would be easy—and tempting—to fill this page with fond memories of past projects, recall the hundreds of talented artists with whom we've worked, the wonderful writers who contributed to almost two decades of Public Art Review, and all the great events and gatherings we've hosted. We started out in 1978 as the scrappy alternative artspace Forecast Gallery, then Forecast Public Artspace Productions, with a curious logo/mascot, a Magritte-like figure carrying an umbrella (more "Being There," less "Mary Poppins"). It fit the umbrella-like role we played in supporting artists, nurturing collaborations, and weathering the changing cultural climate. The figure faded, replaced by a big fat " F " and later, an abstract mark resembling a fulcrum. Today, the mysterious figure returns—in sprightly green. Looking forward, looking back, he/she stands ready to explore the public realm and represent our diverse programs: publications, grants, and consulting.

To kick off the fun and games this year. Forecast engaged Black Bean Associates (Hans Early-Nelson, Matt Carlyle, Juliana Peterson, and Julia Kouneski) to create a unique, sculptural, human-powered vehicle. The F-30 Public ArtCar seats ten under large, twirling, hand-painted umbrellas. The F-30 will pedal through parades and festivals all summer long, starting with its debut at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's annual MayDay Parade in South Minneapolis.

We're hoping things will be looking up in September when the Republicans convene here in town. If the permit gods allow, we plan to feature So Below; As Above, a skywrit-

Black Bean Associates, f-30 Puttie Mar (a.U. Pedal Cloud), 2008, Minneapolis.

YEARS /

FORECAST

PublicArt

ing project designed by Connecticut artist Leila Daw. Imagine two planes soaring side-by-side overhead, slowly tracing the banks of the Mississippi River as it snakes gracefully through the region. Is it reverence for the environment, a symbol of bipartisanship, an activist gesture, a geography lesson, or just a grand spectacle? Or is it all of the above?

After several years of research, Forecast grant recipient Nancy Ann Coyne is installing twenty-three oversized, semitransparent black-and-white photographs reflecting the Twin Cities' diverse immigrant population in Minneapolis's busiest skyway, which connects the IDS Center with Macy's across Nicollet Mall. Co-presented by the Family Housing Fund, Speaking of Home runs from July through October and includes a series of public programs, including a national conference on public art and democracy hosted by the University of Minnesota's Center for Advanced Study, (www.speakingofhome.org).

Emily Johnson's research project focuses on collaborative sculptural elements and locations for a new performance/installation project. Kent Scheer is developing concepts for a sculptural installation to revitalize his hometown town of Wadena.

Jeff Lohaus is studying and testing sculptural concepts to promote the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. Laurie Phillips is expanding her Story Graph Portraits out of the gallery and into the public realm using laser-carved stone and digitally photo-imaged ceramics. Dave Machacek is traveling around Minnesota with his steamroller and engaging communities in printmaking workshops until he's assembled a 1,000-foot-long print. Krista Kelley Walsh performs her "Gratitude Guerilla" action, walking all over St. Paul for four months, carrying and distributing thank-you balloons in amusingly subversive ways.

Michael Sweere is creating a mosaic mural depicting the natural life of the Upper Mississippi River using salvaged tile and recycled objects.

Nancy Ann Coyne, Speaking olHome (artist rendering), 2008, Minneapolis.

FROM THE HOME FRONT

AROUND TOWN in addition to now murals spouting up around town, including a wondrous sinewy fence mural by Bethany Kalk in South Minneapolis, a new mural initiative has sprung up. "Walldogs on Nicollet" (www.walldogs.lyndale.org) is an innovative effort by the Kingfield and Lyndale Neighborhood Associations to call on local and national artists to paint six to ten murals along Nicollet Avenue, a major commercial corridor the two neighborhoods share. "From what we've been able to find, this is going to be one of the largest creations of public art in Minneapolis's history," said Mark Hinds, executive director of the Lyndale Neighborhood Association, "It's a different kind of public art—the use of volunteers, the style of it. We think the quality is top-notch."

The murals will be painted during a three-day span in late July.

"Walldogs" is a historical nickname for painters who traveled from town-to-town making signs and murals. Their contemporary namesake is a loose affiliation of public mural enthusiasts from around the country keeping the tradition of mural-making alive. Though they live in disparate locales, they organize "meets" to paint murals, typically in small, rural towns. Minneapolis will be the first large, urban Walldogs meet and the first with an emphasis on involving local artists.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE STAKEHOLDERS My Yard Th»UnConventlc 1

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In response to the Republican National Convention during the first four days of September in the Twin Cities, a unique consortium has come together under the provocative name of The UnConvention. Self-described as "a nonpartisan collective of citizens who have come together to create a forum in which to promote the democratic and free exchange of ideas on important issues," The UnConvention is a nontraditional arts festival promoting participatory democracy offering a counterpoint to the "highly scripted and predetermined nature of the contemporary presidential nomination process and convention."

Regional arts and cultural organizations have banded together to present events, installations, parades, lectures, performances, and experimental new media works. Intermedia Arts serves as control central, with around-the-clock activities. Other participants include the Walker Art Center, Carleton College, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Forecast Public Art, the University of Minnesota Institute for New Media Studies, Northern Lights, independent artists, studio buildings, and a growing number of new recruits as the program gains momentum.

Art on Wheels consists of three "Mobile Broadcast Units"—bicycles combining a video projector, generator, and

Scott Sayre, with Walker Art Center and mnartists.org, My M, Our Message, 2008.

computer—performing impromptu interactive media presentations. The State of Things, a slowly-melting ice sculpture of the word "Democracy" by the long-term collaborative team of Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese, is part of Provision Library's "BrushFire" public art programming leading up to the Democratic and Republican conventions (www.provisionslibrary.org). My Yard Our Message was conceived by Scott Sayre of Sandbox Studios and presented with the Walker Art Center and mnartists.org. Beginning May 23rd, Sayre will solicit political sign designs related to the theme of participatory democracy from artists throughout the world with the top designs selected through an online voting process. The winning designs are then available to order via the project website, MyYardOurMessage.com, as full-size political yard signs or downloadable print-it-yourself PDF documents.

If you're not into the unconventional, you can also check out CivicFest: A Very Minnesota Celebration running simultaneously at the Minneapolis Convention Center. This familyfriendly edutainment extravaganza includes exhibits, vendors, historic artifacts, local performers and a replica of the Oval Office (for picture-taking).

And not far away you can take in a few rounds at the Walker Art Center's Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Walker on the Green: Artist-Designed Mini Golf returns May 23 through September 7 for the second time in three years, with a fun, yet challenging green-themed course. Designers range from independent artists and architects to members of established companies and design collectives. All are registered with www. mnartists.org, an online clearinghouse and resource for Minnesota artists of all stripes. The Walker and www.mnartists.org are partners in Walker on the Green.

Alchemy Architects of St. Paul created Wafer Hazard, which employs dozens of dangling water bottles as "an observation of the less-than-ecological practice of bottling and shipping drinking water." Sculptor Zoran Mojsilov cut a groove into the branches of storm-damaged trees, culled from a nearby landfill, to serve as a track for the ball. Kevin Kane collaborated with his students to create a rainwater garden and a hillside of pop-bottle bottoms. You can also sink a ball into the mouth of Theodore Roosevelt—if you can maneuver past a 12-foot Paul Bunyon—created by artist Andrew MacGuffie.

Andrew MacGuffie, Paul & Jeiiy (model), 2008.

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Art glass with solar energy collectors for the wind tower, 39'Hx 12'W. The tower is illuminated at night by solar energy collected during the day.

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Jeffrey Maron "Spirits' Flight" 2002 Hillman Cancer Center Pittsburgh, PA A healing installation, soaring abstract birds activate the space above, while a meditation fountain welcomes all.

Commissioned by: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Photograph by: Artist

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Janet Zweig and Edward del Rosario "Carrying On" 2004 1200' frieze of 194 figures at the Prince Street Subway Station.

New York, NY Commissioned by: Metropolitan Transit Authority Photograph by: Artist

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CONFERENCE REPORT suepete Sculpture in Public: Part 1, Sculpture Parks and Gardens Seattle, Washington • October 15 -17, 2007

Inspired by the long-anticipated January 2007 opening of the Seattle Art Museum's Olympic Sculpture Park, the International Sculpture Center (ISC) chose this northwest city as the setting for its annual conference.

The park, an eight and a half-acre former brownfield named for the Olympic mountain range across Puget Sound, is a sharply sculpted space on prime waterfront land, designed

by New York architects Weiss/Manfredi. It is traversed by a

ABOVE: Visitors tour Richard Serra's Me, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seattle.

BELOW: Alexander Calder's ftj/e on the park's waterfront.

zigzag path that links twenty pieces of art, among them Alexander Calder's vivid Eagle, Richard Serra's mighty Wake, and Louise Bourgeois' poignant Father and Son fountain.

Last year, the museum also expanded its downtown location, which is where the conference was held, attracting nearly 300 attendees from eight countries. There, panelists discussed issues unique to outdoor art exhibits—including practical issues like the challenge of maintaining work that is exposed to the elements; related considerations like landscaping; and theoretical concerns, like the ability of public art to transform communities. The genesis of Seattle's new sculpture park was another frequent topic of disucssion.

Representatives from sculpture parks across the country reported on the specifics of their own outdoor art spaces. A wide variety of parks were represented; The 500-acre, 48-yearold Storm King Art Center in upstate New York, home to more than 150 works; the 2.4-acre Nasher Sculpture Center in urban Dallas, which opened in 2003 with a top-class private collection; the ever-changing, artist-focused Socrates Sculpture Park, founded by Mark di Suvero on the East River in Queens; the skillfully integrated Stuart Collection at the University of California, San Diego; and St. Louis's 116-acre Laumeier Sculpture Park, which hosts symphony concerts and kids' art classes.

In one particularly engaging discussion, artists Buster Simpson and Dennis Oppenheim talked about their own work, and joined prolific local architect Barbara Swift in analyzing the effectiveness of Seattle's new park. Swift observed that the dramatic design—not the art—currently dominates the experience. Added Oppenheim, "It's kind of an earthwork, the park itself. You could almost leave the artwork out of it." The Seattle Art Museum's Michael McCafferty reminded the audience, "The park is not done. It's in its infancy."

Keynote speaker Ned Rifkin of the Smithsonian offered an expansive, if rather academic, slide show that spanned Karin Sander, Michelangelo, Jeff Koons, and Stonehenge to make the point that sculpture defies dictionary definitions.

Most memorable, though, was Ed Uhlir's entertaining account of the six-year transformation of an old Chicago rail yard (dubbed an eyesore by mayor Richard Daley) into the vibrant and wildly successful new Millennium Park. Uhlir, the park's design director, offered a good primer on how to please a mayor, prod donors in ingenious ways, and juggle a ballooning budget.

"If you can keep the cost of the project and the time it's going to take secret, do that," he dryly advised. Despite overshooting its budget and timeline ("We missed the millennium by four years"), a skeptical press, and the enormous engineering task of creating seamless welds in Anish Kapoor's giant mercurydrop "bean," the popular park has been a boon to tourism and surrounding land values. "Who says parks don't matter for the economic development of a city?" said Uhlir.

Part two of ISC's Sculpture in Public conference, "Public Art," will be held October 2-4, 2008 in Grand Rapids, Mich., home of the Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.

SUE PETERS is a Seattle-based writer and alumna of UCSD, where she thoroughly enjoyed her years studying Rimbaud and Metternich among the artwork of Niki de Saint Phalle, Bruce Nauman, and Terry Allen.

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Art Basel M i a m i Beach Miami, Florida • December 5-9, 2007

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In the opening days of December 2007, art-fair gypsies from all over—China, Argentina, Germany, and of course, New York—flew in to summery south Florida for Art Basel Miami Beach, in Miami Beach and Miami proper. They came to encamp and present their wares in large exhibition halls, in dank, musty hotels, in tents pitched on urban-renewal developers' lots, and even in shipping containers. Collections were also exhibited in the grand deco hotel towers on Collins Avenue— venues full of the opulent, decadent atmosphere of a 1930s movie set.

I came to Art Basel a week before the opening, to make an installation sculpture and experience this large event—really a collection of art fairs—for the first time. I arrived to find a bustle of preparatory excitement. I watched workers putting up a geodesic dome for the French jeweler and watchmaker Cartier in the botanic gardens across from the Miami Beach convention center. The energy was even higher over in Miami's Wynwood District, where large white vinyl tents were being assembled over carpet-covered plywood floors, with a buzz of hammering and sawing. Illuminated signs marked each fair: Art Miami.

Miami Photo, and so on. Artists kept busy late into the night painting murals on the walls of buildings and galleries.

The most elitist art fair is the Art Basel proper, occupying half of the Miami Beach Convention Center. It is the most highly prized place to exhibit and, as I was told, the place where the top prices were paid for contemporary "blue-chip" art. Here, on opening day, I saw high-end New York gallery owners and their directors rushing about or sitting regally in their booths watching for clients—friends of the market, collectors, and museum people. I wasn't any of these, of course, and I couldn't help noticing their lack of interest in me. This venue was about business—the capitalist business that makes the art market happen, whatever it may do to the creative soul. The fashionable were there, including Tom Wolfe in his signature white suit, playing the role of cultural-icon-as-living-sculpture.

The first big VIP party that I got into was the Whitney Museum gathering at the Sagamore Hotel. After running a gauntlet of door people checking invitations, I was welcomed by a long line of beautiful, smiling women in short black dresses, each of them holding a tray of long-stemmed glasses of champagne.

I took one as I passed through the lobby to the back courtyard.

What elegance! Bars, then a table of wonderful food, a blue pool, sweet samba music, then another table and bar. Delightful—but I found it difficult to meet or talk to anyone in this sea of the fashionable and the to-be-seen.

Outside, the bus was waiting to go to another VIP opening at North Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art, way out on 125th Street. The museum was hosting the opening of Jorge Pardo's installation, and the party was in a tent in the back.

Here I found a very different ambiance from the previous shindig: There were small tables where you could meet and talk while eating and drinking.

The party the following night at the Bass Museum of Art was just as friendly, but it couldn't quell my uneasiness about the whole concept of the VIP private exhibition. These "sperial" receptions ply you with alcohol (from the liquor-makers who sponsor the events) until you have to wonder if art or booze is the point.

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After the Bass opening it was time to view the art-filled shipping containers that surrounded an installation piece called Concrete Waves (a sort of art skate-park, created as an homage to skateboard culture, but which looked rather inconsequential at night, without any skateboarders). It was very difficult to go in and out of the container exhibitions but there was a lot of energy in this "emerging" art. At ten o'clock at night, a very aged Iggy Pop came on stage, shirtless and singing, to no particular purpose.

The other real art excitement was the collection of graffiti murals in the Wynwood district, which were not necessarily successful art, but had the sort of youthful energy that makes art scenes grow and thrive. I couldn't help contrasting their dynamism with the "graffiti art" I had seen at one of the VIP events, repackaged as saleable canvas paintings with surreal overtones. Those pieces lacked the bite of the Wynwood work.

Not all of the top New York galleries at Art Basel were in the convention center. Several could be found in other fairs: Pulse Miami, Scope Miami, and Zones Contemporary Art Fair. I was impressed with the pieces presented in a smaller fair, Geisai Miami, situated on the second floor above Pulse and organized by the Japanese sculptor Takashi Murakami.

There was an effort to present sculpture in front of various fairs—a pretty weak effort overall, although it was a pleasure to see, in the courtyard of Pulse, the Turtle—a replica of a Revolutionary War—era proto-submarine—by artist Duke Riley. (Homeland security made the Turtle important when the sculpture floated too close to the Queen Mary in New York harbor last summer and Riley was arrested and fined.)

As for me. I made a work on the beach at 125th Street at the water line, using leaves of the traveler palms that grow profusely in Miami. I tied them into an arch and took some photographs to make a card that I passed out during the fair. I showed photographs of my ephemeral installation at Hotcakes Gallery at the Aqua Hotel—and that was my ephemeral part of the ephemeral glamour and glory that filled the deco hotels and white tents of Art Basel Miami.

ROY F. STAAB is a "natural peripatetic" sculptor whose work is in the collections of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and Musee d'Art Moderne, Paris.

MOSAIKA ART & DESIGN

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Atlanta's

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Avantika Bawa Sheila Pree Bright

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Coby Cranman

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Craig Dongoski

digital, sound, video and other

Angus Galloway

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C u r a t e d b y S t u a r t Keeler

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new

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Steve Jarvis Pam Longobardi

June 7 - Summer 08

Julie Newton Joe Peragine

For more information on this project contact the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs at 404-817-6815 or email newgenrelandscape@gmail.com 'Grove'

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BOOK REVIEW

MARIA N. STUKOFF / MELISSA

CONSTANTINE

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O P E N SPACE: Art in the Public Realm in London 1 9 9 5 - 2 0 0 5

A N T O N Y CORMLEY

Jemima Montagu, editor London: Open House, 2007 216 pages, £ 2 5 (paperback)

Antony Gormley and Richard Noble; edited by Michael Mac London: Steidl, 2007 560 pages, $85 (hardcover)

Open Space is a bold and confident publication celebrating London as a site for visionary public art commissioning over the past decade. The book surveys some thirty-six projects—including work by Usman Haque, Janet Cardiff, Andy Goldsworthy, Tony Oursler, and Richard Wilson—that have helped redefine London's sense of community by responding to sidewalks, plazas, riversides, and buildings in the city. The publication closely examines the details of each art situation and shows how each has inspired new ways of seeing the urban landscape. From art in bus shelters to electromagnetic balloons in the sky, from temporary performances to artist-designed interiors—the myriad gifts and pleasures that public art has to offer can be witnessed in this publication.

Editor Jemima Montagu opens with a vivid introduction to public art practices of the past century, bringing to light the creative motivations and social possibilities involved in commissioning public art, as well as the diversity of art practices in open spaces today. The accompanying essays, by Jes Fernie and Claire Doherty, discuss the participatory nature of processled and socially engaged art-making, providing a rare and candid insight into artists' collaborative methods. Key examples include Mark Dion's Tate Thames Dig, Kathrin Bohm's Public Works, and Andreas Lang's Park Products.

Open Space is much more than an "art book." It is designed to give the reader a close-up account of how public artists work alongside architects, project managers, community leaders, commissioners, and public as well as private investors. Each artwork is treated in a generous four-page layout that provides a wealth of critical details about artistic and administrative process, production values, even health and safety considerations.

To my delight, there are also first-hand commentaries from the artists and their collaborators.

It seems certain that, with the growth of urban renewal plans (called regeneration schemes^ in the UK) that bring together artists, architects, city planners, neighborhood representatives, and civic agencies, public art will continue to augment the creative vision of cities. Open Space is a must-have reference guide to anyone interested in a comprehensive view of art in the public realm as it develops.

If there is any artist working today worthy of a major retrospective monograph, it is Antony Gormley. His career has spanned twenty-five years, during which time he has consistently proven his proficiency as thinker, technician, and craftsman.

Gormley's work centers on the body and its relation to an expanded notion of architecture, and is executed with a fine mastery of materials. This book does a good job of presenting the distinctions within Gormley's catalogue, and as he says in the introduction, it allows "the projects themselves [to] take over and begin to have conversations between each other."

Indeed, these "conversations" are like discussions among siblings or cousins. There is a family resemblance from project to project: Gormley uses the body as a continually refined instrument with which to test the character and limits of inhabited spaces. His work is a re-drafting of figure-ground maps: the body as positive space, the body as negative space; the external space negative, then positive. In later works, these maps come to incorporate gray as the segregation of figure from ground disintegrates.

The minimal text of Antony Gormley includes a brief introduction and statements preceding each section written by the artist, as well as an opening essay by London-based critic and lecturer Richard Noble. Noble's essay sets individual works, and Gormley's career as a whole, in their historical and philosophical contexts. Noble tends towards cultural readings and subjective interpretations that, while they may be appropriate for the work of others, seem unnecessary here. The poignancy and resonance of Gormley's work is such that, when it comes to commentary, less is preferable to more. (Gormley himself exemplifies this restraint in the artist's statements that precede each section.)

The commitment he has made to the theme of the body as an object within its spatial constraints gives him a clarity and intensity of focus that is rare among artists, and also allows us to see what I'm tempted to call the total corpus of his work as a single masterful composition. Despite the limitations of a portion of the text, the book's elegant concept and design allow the work to speak for itself.

MARIA N. STUKOFF is an Australian-born media art consultant living in Manchester,

MELISSA CONSTANTINE lives and works in the Twin She is interested in architecture and urhanism.

artist, curator, UK.

and

Cities.

BOOK REVIEW

TAKING THE MATTER INTO C O M M O N HANDS: On Contemporary Art and Collaborative Practices Johanna Billing, Maria Lind, and Lars Nilsson, editors London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007 144 pages, $29.95 (paperback) This book grew out of a 2005 symposium, hosted by the International Artists Studio Program in Stockholm, that was intended to, as the editors put it, "measure the pulse of collaboration within contemporary art." They might better have said "collaboration within conceptually based, socially engaged contemporary art."

Most of the contributors to Taking the Matter into Common Hands belong to groups that construe collaborative work as a form of social practice and transformation. Nearly all privilege information over objects, and many share a concern with a very specific, if widespread, socioeconomic trend: the growth of temporary and freelance labor, in which workers are denied the security characteristic of unionized labor and the welfare state. ("The production methods and lifestyles associated with these working conditions are largely rooted in artistic and bohemian roles," the editors note dryly.)

Italian activist Alex Foti discusses his work on behalf of this sector, which he calls the "precariat," and expresses the hope that freelance "brain workers"—including artists— can collaborate (politically) with the "chain workers" in the world's Wal-Marts and Hard Rock Cafes.

Other contributors are political in a more playful way. The School of Missing Studies is a confederation of artists, mostly from the former Yugoslavia, whose recent Lost Highway Expedition was a kind of rolling happening-cum-art festival that made its way from Ljubljana, Slovenia, to Sarajevo. The project was intended to be as uncertain and improvisatory as the present and future of the Balkans. Tirdad Zolghadr tells the story of his Teheran-based SHAHRZAD Collective with a neo-dadaist verve that seem designed to play with our dark perceptions of Middle Eastern reality. And an essay by Maria Lind places these groups in contexts that include the "relational esthetics" of Nicolas Bourriaud and new genre public art.

Though there are dull spots—dry accounts of a Swedish artists' lobby group and a Copenhagen antiwar initiative seem to have been included solely to add political heft to the mix—on the whole the pieces in Common Hands are astute and lively. The book is a stimulating tour guide to an important segment of the art world that is redefining collaboration as border-blurring activism.

DOUBLE ACT: Two Artists One Expression Mark Gisbourne, edited by Ulf Meyer zu Kiiingdorf Munich: Prestel, 2007 192 pages, $49.95 (hardcover) This handsomely produced book showcases the work of twenty-eight mostly British and European contemporary artists who work in pairs—and who, as author Mark Gisbourne puts it, "have chosen—and here the emphasis is on have chosen— to sublimate the pursuit of a singular subjectivity in a shared endeavour." Gisbourne's sample ranges from the very well known (Pierre et Gilles) to the compellinglv offbeat (the German-Austrian duo Eva and Adele, who shave their heads daily and don identical gender-neutral, fabulously futuristic dresses for the forays into art-world events that provide material for their drawings and paintings).

Included are mainstays of the Saatchi-era London scene like Jake and Dinos Chapman—makers of nubile, mutant mannequins—and libidinous trash sculptors Tim Noble and Sue Webster, along with less familiar Europeans such as Blue Noses (a rowdy pair of self-documenting performance artists based in Moscow and Siberia) and the Danish-Norwegian duo Elmgreen and Dragset, who like to alter and ironize the art world's most sacred spatial trope: the white gallery. The only public artists on view (unless you count the peripatetic Eva and Adele) are the Puerto Rico-based Allora and Calzadilla, who have spent the last eight years making subtle interventions into the landscape of Vieques, the island once used as a proving ground for American weapons.

Gisbourne has carefully chosen artists whose mode of collaboration effaces their individual contributions and even their identities. The trouble is that he presents so little material exploring the process of this fusion—no interviews or full artist's statements, and only a handful of short quotations from the artists about their process and how they experience it—that the reader is given far too little help in figuring out what makes "double act" art different from similar work produced by individual artists.

For readers willing to let this rather large missed opportunity pass, Double Act offers a competent and visually rich introduction to some very interesting artists, along with some valuable insights that have little to do with collaboration—such as the impact of the decidedly un-hip East London milieu on that pioneer double-act, Gilbert and George, and their continuing influence on several of the artists in the book.

JON SPAYDE is senior

editor

of Public Art

Review.

BOOK REVIEW

ANNA

M U E S S I G / JAY W A L L J A S P E R

lucy+jorge orta loratlve practices

pattern book

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The A r t of C u l t u r a l D e v e l o p m e n t

LUCY+JORGE ORTA PATTERN BOOK: An Introduction to Collaborative Practices Lucy Orta and Jorge Orta; edited by Paula Orrell London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007 160 pages, $29.95 (paperback)

NEW CREATIVE COMMUNITIES: The Art of Cultural Development Arlene Goldbard Oakland: New Village Press, 2006 272 pages, $19.95 (paperback)

Lucy and Jorge Orta, multidisciplinary artists and networkers of impressive stamina and breadth, stage projects in and between communities around the globe. From Glasgow to Oaxaca, they forge public process artworks that address pressing social issues. The Pattern Book is an attempt to capture the scope and complexity of their twenty years as collaborators and life partners. It presents five of their major projects in eighty full-color, image-laden pages, along with two critical essays, a first-ever interview with the artists, an appendix of related projects, and an element linking the book to the web.

The Ortas's work takes many forms, including artist residencies, light projections, dinner conversations, and their signature jump suits, which connect anywhere from four to four hundred wearers through a web of sleeves. In all its forms, their work creates visually powerful and mobile networks involving many participants.

In OPERA.tion Life Nexus, the artists worked with expert and novice artists in twenty cities to create a series of sculptures, light projections, performances, and other works, including ceramic hearts, stressing the importance of organ transplants.

The Gift scattered its authorship across the globe, expressing what the Ortas believe to be the ultimate role of the artist—not heroic creator but connector and amplifier, one who creates opportunities for artistic interactions. Accordingly, Jorge's motto is: " A n art from the base upwards, without artists!"

Unfortunately, the book's presentation of the Ortas's projects falls flat. There is plenty of discussion of the artists' theories, but because of poor captioning and a conspicuous absence of detailed project descriptions, readers come away with a shallow understanding of how each project was accomplished.

The greatest strength of the book, however, is the interview with Lucy and Jorge. What shines through is their desire to perfect a collaboration that leads to social change and human connection. It is here that we find the root of their work—in the tension between the art object and community process. Perhaps it is the energy resulting from this desire to create something tangible and lasting within the unpredictable realm of human relations that propels these veterans of collaborative art.

In arts-rich Minneapolis, where I live, the artistic organization that draws the largest single crowd every year is the scrappy little In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater. Working out of a once-abandoned movie theatre in one of the city's poorest neighborhoods, this unabashedly iconoclastic troupe lets people walk in off the street to help plan its annual May Day Parade and Festival, which draws upwards of 50,000 people to celebrate the political and spiritual undercurrents of the spring holiday.

This would come as no surprise to Arlene Goldbard, a long-time champion of community arts organizations. Her most recent book. New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development, is a comprehensive, well-written, and passionate chronicle of this overlooked sector of the art world.

Magisterial in her research and uplifting in her storytelling, Goldbard gives us a close look at where these feisty organizations have come from, what they have accomplished, and all the places they are now headed.

The book introduces us to Appalshop, a group located in the mountains of Kentucky that began as a film training program to give underprivileged kids a way out of poverty. Appalshop now boasts a radio station, a theater company, and many other means to express a vision of Appalachia that outsiders seldom see.

We also meet Lilly Yeh, an artist who stuck it out in tough North Philadelphia, encouraging neighborhood people to transform rubble-filled lots into community parks and gardens.

These efforts flowered into the Village of Arts and Humanities, an ambitious collection of arts enterprises, youth programs, urban agriculture plots, and economic development plans. Yeh has now turned to Rwanda, where her Barefoot Artists project aims to help heal the horror of genocidal civil war.

This is just a sampling of the many remarkable stories Goldbard gathers to show how arts projects can restore the spirit and animate the hopes of struggling communities. But more than just inspiring us, she offers a wealth of details about how this work is conceived and carried out, which is invaluable to anyone wanting to see something similar happen in their own town or neighborhood.

ANNA MUESSIG is a long-time public art enthusiast working with Creative Time in New York City.

JAY WALLJASPER, author of The Great Neighborhood Book INew Society), is a senior fellow at Project for Public Spaces.

now

JANE DURRELL / W I L L I A M

CONVERSATIONS ON SCULPTURE Glenn Harper and Twylene Moyer, editors Seattle: University of Washington Press and ISC, 2007 312 pages, $29.95 (paperback) Sculpture magazine, published by the International Sculpture Center (ISC), has been charting the course of sculpture during an extraordinarily volatile time—the last quarter century. Recently, two books have been drawn from the pages of the magazine and issued by the ISC in collaboration with the University of Washington Press. Conversations on Sculpture is a companion to A Sculpture Reader, which appeared in the summer of 2006.

While the Reader consisted of exhibition reviews, Conversations is a collection of interviews with artists. As the editors say in their foreword, the interviews "allow us to go beyond the finished product and enter into the active state of the mind at work." Many of the artists prefer not to discuss content but are pleased to explain process and method.

The editors have chosen to include only interviews from 1998 to 2006. Most are with mature artists who have a substantial body of work to discuss. The book opens with Jan Garden Castro's 1998 interview with installation artist Judy Pfaff. who says in answer to a comment on the handwork required for her pieces, "I have touched, destroyed, and mended all of it. Like taking a bath, I have touched all of it." And on process: "When the piece works, that's the extra. It's like a good marriage. I like that."

Richard Serra tells Jonathan Peyser, in 2002, that he altered his work to allow viewers to walk through it after visiting the temple gardens in Kyoto and finding that "they reveal themselves only [when you are] walking—nothing really happens without movement, which becomes the very basis of perception." Interviewer Elaine A. King learns from James Turrell that he "makes this work for an idealized viewer. You might say that's me. The idealized viewer has changed and matured.

He has become more circumspect."

The final interview, with Mary Miss, dates from 2006.

(Women are plentifully represented throughout this book, as well as being the subjects of its opening and closing interviews.) Miss talks about "stepping out of the museum and gallery framework. . .taking on the issues of our time." The issues of our time are, in a sense, the subject of all these artists. This book provides a telling window into their thinking.

JANE DURRELL writes on the visual variety of publications.

arts and on travel for a

BRYANT LOGAN

BOOK REVIEW

NATURAL ARCHITECTURE Alessandro Rocca New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007 216 pages, $35 (paperback) "Sticks entangle easily," notes Patrick Dougherty in the epigraph to his section of Natural Architecture, a beautifully illustrated collection of work by artists and architects who build in the landscape using natural materials and low-tech means.

The best of these works put a question in a clear voice: How are we in nature and she in us? The buildings and sculptures play across the boundary of human and natural scale.

Almost always, you must walk through and around them. At their best, the pieces incorporate natural process into imagined forms. At their worst, they try to one-up nature in pursuit of the idea du jour. Consider two different cathedrals. One is the Weidendom (Willow Cathedral), by the architect Marcel Kalberer and his firm. Sanfte Strukturen. constructed out of willow wands and poles with the help of 600 volunteers. This willow cathedral has taken root, literally, and is turning into a grove. Giuliano Mauri's Botanical Cathedral, on the other hand, sets small hornbeam trees inside tall columns composed of dead poles that have been lashed together. He believes the columns will protect the trees until they are mature, but in fact they weaken the trees by forcing them to grow too tall too fast.

Whatever their shortcomings, however, all the projects in the book are worthy of reflection. One pair of artists ornaments a dry streambed with patterns of stones and branches. An architect builds huts of local stone, fitting them with lenses to make camera obscuras. A third creates aquatic sculptures that clean polluted water. Another, inspired by cairns, sets charred trunks in upright lines in the forest.

Several rich traditions of landscape gardening lie behind the works. David Nash's Ash Dome, for example, is a precis of the pleached allee (in which branches are intertwined to create a covered walkway) and the laid hedge. Chris Drury's camera huts recall the wonderful studio built in the lake bluff out of bluff stone by landscape visionary Jens Jensen at The Clearing Folk School in Wisconsin. And Kalberer's willow cathedral calls to mind Jakob Lorber ( 1 8 0 0 - 1 8 6 4 ) , the Austrian mystic and visionary who wished to make cities out of living trees.

What a relief to see work that calls our attention to such forgotten ancestors—and to read a book that showcases it so well.

WILLIAM BRYANT LOGAN is an arborist and nature writer who lives in New York. His most recent book is Oak: The Frame of Civilization [W.W. Norton, 2006).

RECENT PUBLICATIONS T H E ARTIST'S G U I D E T O PUBLIC ART:

H O L O C A U S T M E M O R I A L BERLIN: C J Eisenman Architects

How to Find and Win Commissions

^

Lynn Basa

LU

H a n n o Rauterberg

New York: A l l w o r t h Press, 2 0 0 8

oc. Baden, Switzerland: Lars Miiller, 2005 120 pages, $58 (hardcover)

256 pages, $19.95 (paperback)

Offers a full picture o f the process o f the

A timely guide featuring first-hand interviews

m e m o r i a l — w h i c h a t t e m p t s the difficult task

w i t h experienced public artists and arts a d m i n -

o f trying to present a new idea o f m e m o r y as

istrators, i n c l u d i n g details on how t o w o r k w i t h

distinct f r o m n o s t a l g i a — f r o m conceptual and

contracts, conflict, controversy, c o m m u n i t i e s ,

architectural drawings and digital plans to

and c o m m i t t e e s , and also i n c l u d i n g a chapter

digital p h o t o g r a p h s o f construction.

on public art law, w r i t t e n by leading public art attorney Barbara H o f f m a n .

T R A N S _ M I S S I O N : Vadim KosmatschofOrganic Solar Sculptures OLAFUR ELIASSON Madeleine Grynsztejn N e w York: T h a m e s & H u d s o n , 2 0 0 7 272 pages, $50 (hardcover) Featuring Eliasson's site-specific installations, large-scale i m m e r s i v e e n v i r o n m e n t s , freestand-

Gerda Ridler, editor

^

Vienna: Springer Verlag, 2007

J

120 pages, $29.95 (paperback) Sketches, m o d e l s , images, and analysis o f V a d i m K o s m a t s c h o f ' s prototype for a large scale solar sculpture, w h i c h will be coated

i n g s c u l p t u r e , and p h o t o g r a p h s , this survey

w i t h a t h i n layer o f organic photovoltaic cells

examines t h e o r i g i n s and i m p l i c a t i o n s o f his

and derive its energy f r o m photosynthesis.

practice t h r o u g h m a j o r essays by leading art

M a d e o f polished stainless steel, the prototype

h i s t o r i a n s and critics.

c o n t i n u o u s l y changes its appearance, f o l d i n g itself up and u n f o l d i n g in a three-to-five-minute

78

AFTER T H E R E V O L U T I O N :

r h y t h m i c cycle—in analogy to the biological

W o m e n W h o Transformed Contemporary Art

cycles o f living o r g a n i s m s .

DEN HAAG SCULPTUUR 07

Eleanor Heartney, Helaine Posner, Nancy

DE OVERKANT/ D O W N U N D E R :

Princenthal, and Sue Scott (with Linda N o c h l i n ) N e w York: Prestel Publishing, 2 0 0 7 320 pages, $39.95 (paperback) A c o m p r e h e n s i v e v o l u m e assessing t h e i m p a c t o f w o m e n artists o n c o n t e m p o r a r y art since the advent o f the f e m i n i s t m o v e m e n t . Includes in-depth e x a m i n a t i o n s o f M a r i n a A b r a m o w i c z , Louise Bourgeois, Ellen Gallagher, A n n H a m i l t o n , Jenny Holzer, Elizabeth Murray, Shirin Neshat, Judy Pfaff, Dana Schutz, Cindy Sherman, Kiki S m i t h , and Nancy Spero.

C H I H U L Y : 365 DAYS

EVENTS: Issue 4 of SKOR's Art Projects

Contemporary Sculpture from Australia and the

T o m van Gestel

Netherlands

A m s t e r d a m : SKOR, 2 0 0 7

Stichting Den Haag Sculptuur

95 pages, € 7 , 5 0 (paperback)

184 pages (paperback)

SKOR ( F o u n d a t i o n for Art and Public Space)

The c a t a l o g u e — i n D u t c h and E n g l i s h — o f

offers an organizational m o d e l to be used for

The Hague Sculpture's 2 0 0 7 exhibition, w h i c h

projects o f a short d u r a t i o n and involving sev-

highlighted works o f art by c o n t e m p o r a r y

eral artists t h r o u g h a selection o f nine events

artists f r o m Australia and the Netherlands.

f r o m the Netherlands. In Dutch w i t h English

The theme: the adventure o f discovering new

translation.

g r o u n d and the desire for the u n k n o w n .

I'l BIJC ART A WORLD'S 111 \ II'W Integrating Art Into The I nvironuu nt

Dale Chihuly N e w York: Harry N. A b r a m s , 2 0 0 8 744 pages, $29.95 (hardcover) A richly illustrated p h o t o survey o f the artist's

STAND WELL BACK T O APPRECIATE: Murals in Rotterdam Siebe Thissen

I®*.

Rotterdam: Trichis Publishing, 2 0 0 7 320 pages, € 2 9 , 9 0 (paperback)

.

--

The first a t t e m p t at inventorying the city o f

four-decade career, r a n g i n g f r o m i n t i m a t e glass

Rotterdam's m u r a l art collection, a lively and

pieces t o the t r e m e n d o u s o u t d o o r installations

characteristic feature o f the street scene since

viewed by m i l l i o n s . Features personal p h o t o s

about 1970.

and d r a w i n g s selected by the artist.

T H E O U T D O O R GALLERY: 4 0 Years of Public MAYA LIN: Systematic Landscapes

Art in New York City Parks

Richard A n d r e w s and John Beardsley

PUBLIC ART: A World's Eye View

Jonathan Kuhn

N e w Haven: Yale University Press, 2 0 0 6

(ICO) International Creators' O r g a n i z a t i o n

City o f N e w York Parks & Recreation, 2 0 0 7

112 pages, $ 4 0 (hardcover)

Kanagawa, japan: ICO, 2 0 0 7

48 pages (paperback)

A generously illustrated look at t h e artist's con-

4 9 6 pages, $85 (hardcover)

A look back at 4 0 years o f public art in the city's

t i n u e d f a s c i n a t i o n w i t h geological p h e n o m e n a

An eclectic photo-anthology o f public sculp-

parks, featuring a t i m e l i n e o f t e m p o r a r y public

and topology, i n t e g r a t i n g natural c o n t o u r s and

tures and installations f r o m around the world,

art projects.

materials into evocative landscape sculptures.

w i t h essays by various leaders in the field.

ALBERT PALEY: Portals &. Gates

ART U NEED:

Jessica Rowe

My Part in the Public Art Revolution

London: Black D o g Publishing, 2 0 0 7

A m e s , la.: Iowa State University, 2 0 0 7

Bob and Roberta S m i t h

172 pages, $29.95 (paperback) A survey o f the L o n d o n U n d e r g r o u n d ' s

PLATFORM FOR ART: Art on the Underground Tasmin Dillon, editor

143 pages, $35 (hardcover)

L o n d o n : Black Dog Publishing, 2 0 0 7

A c o m p r e h e n s i v e overview o f t h e artist's

160 pages, $29.95 (paperback)

Platform for Art Program f r o m its inception in

public, private, and i n s t i t u t i o n a l passageways,

An i n t i m a t e account o f artist Bob and Roberta

2 0 0 0 , h i g h l i g h t i n g the work o f many participat-

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S m i t h ' s site-specific project to t r a n s f o r m open

ing artists, i n c l u d i n g Cindy Sherman, Janette

i m a g i n e d ) , e x a m i n i n g his sources in nature

spaces in South Essex, Britain, w r i t t e n in diary

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f o r m , and p o n d e r i n g the nature and place o f

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p u b l i c art in today's world.

the broader i m p l i c a t i o n s o f the p r o g r a m .

RECENT PUBLICATIONS >QC - DIALOGUES IN DIVERSITY:

in the Long Twentieth Century

John K. Grande

Gerald Raunig

Grosseto, Italy: Pari Publishing, 2007

Los Angeles: Semiotext(e), 2007

176 pages, $29.95 (paperback)

320 pages, $17.95 (paperback)

Conversations with artists from both main-

An alternative art history o f the " l o n g twentieth

stream and marginalized cultures o f Canada,

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Chile, Mexico, Norway, Senegal, China, Iran,

the turbulent counter-globalization protests in

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Genoa in 2001, this scholarly text extends the

tions o f art's relationship to the environment,

poststructuralist theory o f revolution through

how art can make us see and relate to the

to the explosive nexus o f art and activism,

world around us, and how art can preserve the

encouraging a new generation o f artists and

future o f the planet and enrich lives.

thinkers to create radical new methods o f engagement.

ICEPICK: Icelandic Street Art Thordis Claessen

ART A N D REVOLUTION: Transversal Activism

Art from Marginal to Mainstream

ARCADE: Artists and Place-Making OPEN No. 12: FREEDOM O F CULTURE:

Corte Madera, Calif.: Cingko Press, 2007

Rhona Warwick, editor

208 pages, $29.95 (hardcover)

London: Black Dog Publishing, 2007

Regulation and Privatization of Intellectual

An edgy, illustrative tour o f the street art o f

157 pages, $29.95 (paperback)

Property and Public Space SKOR (Foundation for Art and Public Space)

Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, and its surround-

Surveys the issues surrounding urban

ing areas, covering a wide range o f themes and

redevelopment and public art, using Glasgow's

Belgium: NAi Publishers, 2007

subject matter from traditional Icelandic icons

Gorbals as a starting point to raise significant

175 pages, â&#x201A;Ź28,50 (paperback)

to sheep, Vikings, fantastic gothic creations,

questions about art's place and value in the

Investigates the root cause o f the growing

and colorful graffiti pieces evoking the NYC

twenty-first century.

number o f conflicts relating to the public and private ownership and control o f knowledge

street art scene.

MASCOTS & MUGS: The Characters and Cartoons of Subway Graffiti David Villorente and Todd James

ART POWER

B O R I S GROYS

jm

New York: Testify Books, 2007 288 pages, $39.95 (hardcover) A chronologically sequenced look at the figurative

and culture, how they interrelate, and what the implications are for the 'free' production and practice o f culture, as well as for the internal dynamics and balance o f power in the public domain.

NATURE DESIGN: From Inspiration to Innovation

elements in graffiti art, filled with

Angeli Sachs, editor

photographs and artist interviews with some o f the first subway graffiti artists to create

Baden, Switzerland: Lars Muller, 2007

characters free from the constraints o f the

300 pages, $39.95 (paperback)

usual graffiti letterforms.

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1 , 0 0 0 STENCIL: Argentina Graffiti Guido Indij

ART POWER

design, architecture, landscape architecture,

Buenos Aires: la marca editora, 2007

Boris Groys

photography, and fine art in which creators

241 pages, $25 (paperback)

Cambridge: MIT Press, 2008

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Photographs documenting the stencil-

224 pages, $22.95 (hardcover)

plex and innovative statements.

technique graffiti that has found its optimal

A scholarly analysis o f the ideolgical function

conditions in Argentina as the medium o f

o f modern and contemporary art, looking

ELEMENT

expression chosen by urban artists, artisans,

closely at the balance o f aesthetic and political

Cecil Balmond

and militants. Text in Spanish.

power among artists, collectors, curators, and

New York: Prestel Publishing, 2007

audiences.

288 pages, $45 (hardcover) A glimpse into the creative process o f one o f

THE ARTS OF DEMOCRACY:

the world's most innovative architects and

Art, Public Culture, and the State

structural engineers. Balmond's narrative

Casey Nelson Blake, editor

unfolds in three conceptual chapters:

Philadelphia: Univ. o f Pennsylvania Press, 2007

elements, pattern, and nature. Using these

352 pages, $49.95 (hardcover)

concepts, along with mathematical reasoning

A collection o f essays on topics ranging f r o m

and advanced geometry, the book makes an

the creation o f the N EA visual arts program to

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religious displays in the twenty-first century,

design process.

illuminating the often contradictory impulses that have shaped the historical intersection o f

TIMES O F THE SIGNS:

art, culture, and the state in America.

Communication and Information: a Visual Analysis of New Urban Spaces

ARS ELECTRON ICA 2OO7: Goodbye Privacy

Eric Sadin

PEEL: The Art of the Sticker

Gerfried Stocker, Christine Schopf, editors

Basel: Birkhauser, 2007

Dave and Holly Combs

Ostfildern, Germany: Hatje Cantz, 2007

432 pages, $49.95 (paperback)

New York: Mark Batty Publisher, 2008

447 pages, $40 (paperback)

A highly visual investigation showing the

160 pages, $27.95 (hardcover)

A companion to the 2007 Ars Electronica

complex nature and enormous impact o f

Documents the development o f urban sticker

Festival, in which particpants investigate a new

recent developments in the information

culture and the evolution o f PEEL, the first

culture o f everyday life that is torn between

society: a transformation produced by the

magazine dedicated to sticker street art.

the voluntary relinquishment o f privacy and

irresistible combined expansion o f digital

Includes artist-designed stickers.

involuntary transparency.

technology and telecommunication networks.

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(1-2) Reflect/Radiate/Accumulate. 2007. Granite, steel Cleveland Slate University Law l i b r a r y / O h i o Arts Council. (J) Cell Wall. 2007. Indiana limestone and Kasota stone, 60' x 10' x 5'. Microbial Sciences Bldg., University ot Wisconsin, Madison, Wl. (4) Art* Fire Project, 2007. Collaboration with Diane Con/in s Phil Bews, Stockholm, W l / L a k e Pepin Art s Design Center.

NEWS

BIG SPLASH FOR THE BIG APPLE Construction began in March on electrically powered waterfalls designed by Danish-born

PUBLIC ART FOR A NEW KARACHI

BANKABLE BANKSY

artist Olafur Eliasson that will call attention to

Once filled with distinguished public sculpture,

The Bristol-born, London-based, and deter-

four sites in New York City, all associated with

the Pakistani capital, Karachi, was denuded o f

minedly mysterious stencil graffitist Banksy is

the East River. One is slated for Governor's

nearly all o f it beginning in 1958 under strong-

arguably the most famous underground artist

Island in New York Harbor; two more will

man Ayub Khan. Religious extremists began

in the world, while his determination to remain

flow on the two sides o f the East River itself;

stripping the city o f large-scale statues from the

an anonymous, hit-and-run graffitist has kept

and one will be m o u n t e d under the Brooklyn

era o f the British Raj; the assault worsened in

his outlaw credibility high. London's Tower

Bridge. Eliasson hopes that the temporary

the eleven years after another military dictator,

Hamlets council decided last fall to paint over

torrents can help attract tourists to the eco-

Zia ul-Haq, came to power in 1977. As a result,

a number o f his works in their jurisdiction;

nomically depressed East River shoreline, and

Karachi is one o f the few world megalopolises

Tower Hamlets council member Abdal Ullah

city officials are gambling that the $15 million

to have no significant public art. But thanks to

complained that the work "spoils the environ-

project will have at least some o f the buzz

an enlightened mayor and some activist art-

ment [and] makes our neighborhoods feel less

(and tourism-revenue impact) o f Christo and

ists, this is beginning to change. Although the

safe." Other municipal authorities consider

Jeanne-Claude's phenomenally successful The

city— and the rest o f Pakistan—is still wracked

Banksy's in-situ stencil works worth preserv-

Gates, installed in Central Park in 2005. Orga-

by political and religious turmoil fomented by

ing. The Bristol city council has protected a

nized by the Public Art Fund, the falls will be in

extremists who see sculpture as one o f many

number o f works by the city's native son. In

place f r o m mid-July to mid-October. Their scaf-

"un-lslamic" evils, Mayor Mustafa Kamal

January Melbourne, Australia, officially moved

folding will have a barrier at the b o t t o m to keep

has taken the daring step o f commissioning

to preserve one o f two Banksys in the city, a

small boats f r o m going underneath the falls,

local artist Shahid Rassam to create two new

diminutive deep-sea-diver figure on the wall o f

and a "shark cage" under the water to keep fish

statues: images o f a whirling dervish and o f a

a ig26-vintage office building, itself placed on

from being sucked into the p u m p s that push

w o m a n in chains, symbolizing the earth's vul-

the State Heritage Register earlier. He's been

the water upwards into the artwork. The p u m p s

nerability. They will be installed in the center o f

thoroughly embraced by the mainstream art

will be powered by renewable energy sources

the city. "We have started investing in culture,"

world—Lazarides Gallery in London is his main

and, to conserve power, the falls will not be

says Kamal, "as it is the only way to combat

dealer, and he's been championed by Damien

brightly lit. [Photo courtesy Public Art Fund.]

extremism and terrorism." A Pakistani artist o f

Hirst and collected by Angelina Jolie. Ten o f his

international repute, Anjum Ayaz, is creating

pieces were sold at Bonham's auction house

another large-scale work, in the Korangi neigh-

for more than Si million in 2007. But the most

borhood on the east side o f the city. The 67-

offbeat—and questionable—Banksy bonanza

Send your latest public art

foot-high m o n u m e n t depicts galaxies, animals,

came when a spray-painted wall was auctioned

NEWS and RECENT PROJECTS to:

people, rituals, and Qur'anic verses—"the

off on eBay for $409,206 in January o f this

info@ForecastPublicArt.org

universe," as Ayaz puts it. The artist, whose

year and it was later discovered that the buyer

work is on display in Tokyo, Beijing, and Dubai,

was an online bidder who had failed to pay for

has also created a dozen small works that are

some o f his more recent purchases, including a

on view at the city's Seaview beach.

$1,200 used Toyota.

Submissions are reviewed twice annually, in March and September.

NEWS

NikeWomen

JETTY IN JEOPARDY? In February, the state o f Utah agreed to consider an application by the oil firm Pearl Montana Exploration & Production to drill in the Great Salt Lake, not far from Robert Smithson's iconic earthwork, Spiral Jetty• Alarm bells immediately rang in the art and environmental communities; the Dia Art Foundation o f New York, which owns the work, joined the environmental group Friends o f Great Salt take in a call for protest, and some 3,000 e-mails were sent to the state from around the world during a public c o m m e n t period that ended February 13. Dia's director, Jeffrey Weiss, wrote: "The expansive natural setting is integral to Smithson's artwork, providing an essential frame for experiencing the Spiral Jetty. Any incursion on the open landscape, including the proposed drilling, would significantly compromise this important work o f art." But Dia curator Lynne Cook has joined some other art historians in pointing out that Smithson's interest in landscape went well beyond moralism about art-and-nature versus industry.

"The sense o f ruined and abandoned hopes interested him," she told The New York Times. " H e didn't look for beautiful places but rather despoiled landscapes where industry and the wild overlap." Critics counter by pointing out that all o f Smithson's photographs o f Spiral Jet-

INTERNATIONAL STICKER ART AWARDS In February, the Grassi M u s e u m in Leipzig, Germany, hosted an exhibition showcasing winners o f its International Sticker Awards. The awards cap an international competition a m o n g artists w h o landscape. The Grassi displayed a range o f work that included British first-place winner J. Ernst's official-looking warning signs for public places ( " N o Eye Contact, Penalty £200"),

Italian second-

place awardee Sputnikk's altered Nike billboard, on which the iconic " s w o o s h " appears to be strangling an athlete, and tied third-place winners Knuudzich o f Norway ( " H o w to Get a Good Job," depicting a man kneeling very near the posterior o f a business-suited executive) and Zemogleba o f Spain, w h o adorned a trash bin with the sign "Please, Don't Take Me Into a Gallery."

The exhibition was organized by artists Matthias Mueller, Matthias Marx, and Andreas Ulrich, w h o declared in a joint statement that "stickers transform the road into a democratic adventure playground." Examples o f the sticker winners are on display at www.stickeraward.info.

[Photo courtesy International

Sticker Art Awards.]

ty emphasize the wilderness around, and that increased traffic to and around the work could pose hazards. At press time, no final decision had been made on whether or not to issue the drilling permit. [Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, 1970. A long-term installation

in Rozel Point,

Box Elder County, Utah. Photo by Cianfranco Gorgoni. Collection Dia Art

Foundation.]

83

use the ephemeral art f o r m to c o m m e n t upon, and alter the passerby's perceptions of, the urban

AUSSIES: PAY FOR PUBLIC ART BACKDROPS

PIXELATE THIS!

The Gold Coast City Council, which administers

New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority

a number o f communities on the coast o f the

has made some 80 LED screens situated near

Australian state o f Queensland south o f Bris-

subway entrances available for p r o g r a m m i n g

bane, is poised to enact a measure that would

by artists. But since the actual display o f

require media and tourist companies that

video on the screens costs $274,000 a

use public art as a backdrop for promotional

m o n t h , corporate advertising is pretty much

images to pay royalties. The measure would

the only t h i n g that passersby ever see. Now

cover a multitude o f objects, including street

New York-based artist and filmmaker Jason

ST. LOUIS DEBUTS GATEWAY ART GARDEN

furniture and fences with artistic merit as well

Eppink has come up with a simple and very

O n January 28 city officials in Saint Louis un-

as works o f sculpture and painting. Affected in

low-tech way for practically anyone to turn

veiled a large-scale plan to transform the city's

major ways would be the area's thriving televi-

commercial public video into abstract art.

d o w n t o w n Gateway Mall. Included in the plan

sion and movie industry, who would be liable

The Pixelator converts the screen images into

is an "urban garden"—a two-block green space

to the council's or the artists' claims for pay-

dancing patterns o f color and light, and it can

that would serve as a garden for both plants

ment ifthey use such Queensland landmarks

be fabricated with foam board and diffusion

and sculpture. The design envisions between

as the large openwork metal sign identifying

20 and 25 works o f sculpture for the space;

the Surfer's Paradise beach (and the town o f

so far five pieces have been chosen. They

the same name) in ads or promotional materi-

include work by Mark di Suvero, George Rickey,

als—including postcards. Also covered would

Fernand Leger, M i m m o Paladino, and Ju Ming.

be objects such as the surfboard-shaped tables

The sculpture garden is the only component o f

and benches at coastal Burleigh Heads, a

the Gateway Mall revitalization plan that has

fence on Mackintosh Island, and paving stones

secured funding so far. It will be paid for, to the

outside the library in the town o f Elanora. The

tune o f $20 million, by the Gateway Founda-

public-art policy was put on the fast track fol-

tion, a private arts agency that places public art

lowing pressure from the Queensland govern-

throughout the region, and is maintained by

ment on the expenditure o f public art funds on

the Missouri Botanical Garden.

the Gold Coast.

gel. The foamboard is cut and assembled into a grid pattern, and the gel is laid over it.

The components are then taped together and attached—while nobody's l o o k i n g — t o the LED screen, and the result is a light show that converts an ad into a kinetic Mondrian. Eppink describes the project as "an unauthorized on-going video art performance collaboration with the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority, Clear Channel Communications, and its selected artists." Details at h t t p : / / jasoneppink.com/pixelator.

m §

NEWS

4

AGIS CHARGED IN INFLATABLE DISASTER In February, London-based artist Maurice Agis was charged with gross negligence manslaughter in a freak accident involving one o f his sculptures. Agis makes large-scale inflatable artworks that can be explored like playhouses.

But the flight o f fancy that his work is meant to inspire became a literal—and tragic—takeoff in July o f 2006, when his piece Dreamspace rose and flipped over, killing two people in the town o f Chester-le-Street in County Durham, England. Dreamspace, a sixteen-foot-high cong

THE PEOPLE'S PLINTH

struction made o f translucent sheets o f PVC,

A

O f the four sculpture plinths that surround London's Trafalgar Square, one has been without a

broke free o f its moorings and rose 60 feet

84

permanent statue since it was built in 1841—no one could agree on which hero to commemorate.

into the air. It traveled nearly 120 feet before

Since 1999, the Royal Society o f Arts' Fourth Plinth Project has turned the space over to a

a pole supporting a closed-circuit security

succession o f temporary projects by contemporary sculptors. The most democratic—and con-

camera snagged it and brought it down. Some

ceptual—one yet is probably the proposal by Antony Gormley, unveiled on January 8 by the Mayor

30 people were inside the structure during its

m

o f London's Fourth Plinth C o m m i s s i o n i n g Group, to allow the plinth to be occupied around

"flight," including victims Claire Furmedge, 38,

cn

the clock, one person for one hour at a time, by volunteer members o f the public, who could do

and Elizabeth Collings, 68, both o f County Dur-

whatever they wanted on the prominent perch. The Gormley plan (pictured top left) was one o f six

ham. Another n children and adults were taken

shortlisted projects; his competitors are (continuing clockwise) Anish Kapoor, Tracey Emin, Yinka

from the park where the work was on display

Shonibare, Jeremy Deller, and Bob & Roberta Smith. Models o f all six were on public display in the

to a hospital in a fleet o f six ambulances and

Annenberg Court in the National Gallery until March 30, 2008. The winning artist was scheduled to

two helicopters. A witness, Richard Gordon, 32,

be announced by the Mayor o f London some t i m e in spring 2008, and the victorious project will be

told reporters "I was standing next to it when I

installed—or set in m o t i o n — i n 2009. [Photos by James

heard a snap as the holding pegs ripped out o f

O.Jenkins.]

the ground. I could hear people inside screaming as it flipped onto its side, went into the air and started gaining speed. At least three industrial-type air blowers were p u m p i n g air into it

MIAMI-DADE ART PROGRAM AUDITED The Art in Public Places Program in Miami-

chairperson o f the APP Trust, countered

when it took off, but I think a gust o f wind must

Dade County, Florida, has been under fire

that the noncompetitive commission was a

have got under it." Agis himself was on the

since last September, when the Miami

recognition o f Janney's talent. Janney invoked

scene. His girlfriend, Paloma Brotons, saw him

Herald

Harmonic

pulled into the air as he attempted to hold on

reported on a number o f major problems and

his rights to protect the integrity o f

flaws in the program. A county audit com-

Runway under the Visual Artists' Rights Act

to the flyaway sculpture. [Photo of Dreamspace

pleted in February seconded the allegations,

(VARA). "We came to an agreement," he told

interior by Andy Miah and Beatriz Garcia.]

which included faulty record keeping that

the Herald, "that the work could be removed

overcounted and undervalued the public art

as long as a new work was commissioned."

collection, uncollected percent-for-art monies

Arts officers in M i a m i say that solutions to the

f r o m public construction projects, lack o f

problems have been in the works since October

PUBLIC ART DIALOGUE DEBUTS

maintenance o f artworks, 87 works presumed

o f 2007, when leadership o f the public art pro-

The College Art Association (CAA) has a new

lost or stolen, and improper removal and

gram passed from Ivan Rodriguez to Michael

affiliated group, Public Art Dialogue (PAD).

destruction o f works. The audit also pointed

Spring. Spring unveiled a plan in January that

Co-chaired by Harriet F. Senie and Cher Krause

to apparent improprieties surrounding the re-

added funds for the maintenance o f artworks,

Knight, PAD welcomes art historians, scholars

moval o f an iconic M i a m i artwork. Christopher

established formal procedures for removing

o f American studies, artists, architects, and

Janney's Harmonic

public art administrators and curators, and will,

Runway, installed at M i a m i

works from the county collection, and enacted

International Airport in 1995, was destroyed in

plans to ensure that the county receives its fair

in Senie's words, "provide a forum for critical

2 0 0 4 to clear the way for construction o f the

share o f public construction monies. County

discourse and commentary about public art

airport's North Terminal. The 15-member Art in

commissioner Heyman declared her support

defined as broadly as possible, ranging from

Public Places (APP) Trust, which oversees the

for the public art program. "It is an incredibly

object-based art to social interventions." PAD

Miami-Dade program, granted Janney $24,000

good, important, valued program that has

will have an e-journal, a listserv, and a newsletter, and will host panels at the CAA's annual

in 2002 and 2003 to develop a plan to remove

national recognition," she told the Herald.

the artwork, then awarded him a $ 9 0 0 , 0 0 0

Members o f the APP Trust, who met on

meetings. Membership costs $20 for individu-

c o m m i s s i o n for a second work—as a "consola-

February 12, asserted that they had already

als, $10 for students, and $50 for institutions.

tion," according to the audit. The audit goes on

begun to address many o f the concerns raised

Members may post on the listserv and partici-

to assert that the c o m m i s s i o n violated county

in the audit. In April, the county board granted

pate in all PAD activities. For more informa-

policy by not giving other artists an opportunity

the program nearly $2 million in additional

tion, contact Juliee Decker at Juliee_Decker@

to compete for the commission. Cindi Nash,

funding for improvements.

georgetowncollege.edu.

PLOWING LIN UNDER The i,6oo-foot-long environmental landscape that m o n u m e n t a l sculptor Maya Lin considers a "breakthrough work" will likely fall victim to bulldozers this summer. Her 1989 Topo, which stands near the Charlotte Coliseum, a sports stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, fell into private hands in 2006 when the city sold the land. The buyer, the Atlanta-based developer Pope & Land Enterprises, plans a mixed-use development on the site, and a two-year search has failed to find an art museum, arboretum, or university willing to uproot and replant the piece elsewhere. Pope & Land were even willing to donate the work, but found no takers. Topo, in which round topiary shrubs are arranged in a long, narrow space so as to suggest balls in play, represented the Vietnam Memorial creator's return to earthworks after a period o f work on urban sites, including the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.

VEGAS GAMBLES O N PUBLIC ART Las Vegas' latest piece o f architectural megaA CHINESE KING?

ambition is the truly overwhelming CityCen-

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was no

ter, a development-in-progress on the Strip

stranger to controversy while he lived, and

between the Bellagio and M o n t e Carlo casinos.

his legacy still has power to stir up passion-

A joint project o f the M G M Mirage casino

ate disagreement. When Chinese sculptor Lei

development corporation and the Dubai World

Yixin was selected by a committee in 2 0 0 6 to

investment group, CityCenter will feature 2,650

DIGITAL GRAFFITI @ ZERO!

create a likeness o f the civil rights leader for

private residences, two 4 0 0 - r o o m non-casino

As a prelude to the 2006 ZEROl festival o f art

the Marin Luther King Jr. National Memorial

hotels, a towering 4 , o o o - r o o m casino/resort,

and technology in San Jose, Calif., New York-

in Washington, DC, there were immediate

and no less than 5 0 0 , 0 0 0 square feet o f retail

based Graffiti Research Labs (GRL), a duo o f

protests that an African-American sculptor was

and entertainment. M G M Mirage has brought

artist/techies whose stated goal is "outfitting

not selected. Particularly vocal was Denver-

on board no fewer than eight p r o m i n e n t archi-

graffiti artists with open source technologies

based black sculptor Ed Dwight, who was one

tects, including Cesar Pelli, H e l m u t Jahn, Rafael

for urban communication," gave a lecture/

o f the members o f the selection committee but

Vinoly, and Daniel Libeskind. Nearly as ambi-

video presentation on their work. A highlight

later expressed doubt that Lei could handle the

tious is the project's public art component,

was the presentation o f the Laser Tag system,

job. " H e doesn't know how black people walk,

which will feature work by A-list artists. Maya

which allows real-time electronic graffiti writing

how they stand, how their shoulders slope,"

Lin will contribute a 120-foot silver casting o f

that appears on, then disappears from, a wall.

he told The New York Times last year. Dwight

the Colorado River that will be suspended high

A laser pointer is directed toward a wall or

had created a small statue o f King emerging

above the Center's reception area. Jenny Holzer

other urban surface, and as its wielder writes or

from a rock—the "Stone o f H o p e " — a s an

will create LED signs over a nearly 4 0 0 - f o o t

draws something, a laptop computer tracks the

award to be given to major foundation donors.

span in front o f the H a r m o n Hotel, Spa, and

laser, converts its movements and coordinates

Dwight maintains that the maquette for the

Residences. Nancy Rubin will recreate, on an

into graphical information which is then sent

statuette was the prototype o f the m o n u m e n t a l

enormous scale, her famous installation Big

to a large-scale video projector. The projector

statue, and that Lei had been hired merely to

Pleasure Point; she'll cluster together rowboats,

"writes" the words or images onto the wall as

execute it. In December o f 2006, however, he

kayaks, canoes, sailboats, surfboards, jet skis,

a trail o f light that follows the laser pinpoint.

discovered that Lei had been listed as the artist

and other small craft into a gravity-defying

(GRL's Evan Roth and james Powderly have

o f record. David Hamilton, another member o f

installation outside the Vdara Condo Hotel

tested the technology on buildings in many

the selection panel, disputes Dwight's account,

(rendering above). Richard Long's large m u d

cities around the world, and they offer the tech-

saying that his belief that his model had been

drawings Circle of Life and Earth will front Veer

nology o f Laser Tag free o f charge at h t t p : / / m u -

the winner and that Lei was merely his as-

Tower, and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van

onics.net/blog/index.php?postid=T5.) The San

sistant were "misimpressions." Harry Johnson

Bruggen will install their iconic Typewriter

Jose lecture-demonstration took place in an

Sr., head o f the memorial foundation, told the

Eraser, Scale X, 1998-1999 at the Mandarin

ironic venue: the city council chambers, where

Times that the panel could find no African-

Oriental Hotel. Frank Stella's 1969 Damascus

ex-mayor Ron Gonzales once boasted that he

American artist with Lei's degree o f experience

Gate I is slated for the reception area at the

had rid the city o f graffiti. Inspired by GRL, the

working with granite on a monumental scale.

Vdara, and CityCenter's g a m b l i n g resort will be the new home o f Henry Moore's Reclining Con-

Minneapolis Art on Wheels project (MAW) will

Another objection to the choice o f Lei came

bring their interactive mobile media—bikes

from well outside the African-American com-

nected Forms (1969-1974), a tender evocation o f

carrying projectors, generators, and comput-

munity, however. Veteran Chinese democracy

the love between mother and child. Additional

ers—to the streets o f San Jose for the 2008

activist Harry Wu pointed out in 2007 that Lei

pieces will be announced later by M G M Mi-

ZEROl festival, taking place June 4-8.

was an inappropriate choice to depict a hero

rage, w h o tout their art program for CityCenter

o f human rights because had made statues o f

as "a benchmark for enlightened corporate

[Photo of digital graffiti for Minneapolis's

2008

Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Arts by

Mao Zedong. " H o w can you make statues for

involvement with the arts at a global level."

MAW team member Ali

Mao Zedong?" he asked. "He's a butcher."

[Photo illustration

Momeni.]

courtesy M G M Mirage.]

CALLING ARTISTS for upcoming civic art projects across LOS ANGELES COUNTY* SIGN-UP at www.lacountyarts.org t o receive t h e upcoming Call f o r Pre-Qualified Artists and other opportunities * 10 m i l l i o n + residents * 4,000 square miles f r o m desert t o beach, f r o m u r b a n t o rural regions E n r i c h i n g Lives

* Facilities r a n g i n g f r o m libraries and parks t o courthouses and health centers

County

Arts

* Project budgets of all sizes Sun Salutations, Terry Braunstein, 2008

California Landscape, Ken Gonzales-Day, 2007

U.S. RECENT PROJECTS

Frederick, Maryland is an historic city—it played a major role in the American Revolution and Star-Spangled Banner author Francis Scott Key was born there—and the place and its history are receiving epic treatment in a five-story work layering together sculpted glass, etched masonry, steel, fabric weaving, and painting into the unfinished wall o f a hotel built in 1923.

Designed by William Cochran and fabricated by Derix Art Glass, THE DREAMINC's many media point to the Frederick area's little-known legacy

88

as a center o f glassmaking, textiles, stonework, calligraphy, metalwork, and music. A thirty-foot glass "veil" o f twenty triple-laminated panels, with a massive work o f weaving beneath it, is suspended from a steel frame. The base o f the work, which itself takes up two stories, is carved with texts taken from members o f the community—and the text continues through the full height o f the piece. The words came from a series o f 120 facilitated meetings, during which residents were encouraged to talk about their private hopes. Artists—including weaver Margaret Hluch and calligrapher Julian Waters— also used the responses to shape the overall work, as an inquiry into the relationship o f personal and public history. The Dreaming, completed in September o f last year, was primarily funded by contributions from hundreds o f private donors f r o m across the community.

[Photos courtesy the artist.]

In February, a "viral public art exhibition" in Los Angeles entitled Women in the City debuted Barbara Kruger's most recent work, PLENTY. The video, a satire on consumerism that draws imagery from advertising, was screened at the Los Angeles County M u s e u m o f Art (LACMA), but also appeared on electronic billboards on the Sunset Strip, inserted in fragments between actual advertisements. Women in the City is a citywide public art initiative showing works by Kruger, Jenny Holzer, Louise Lawler, and Cindy Sherman at fifty different locations from Pasadena to Venice Beach, and was timed to celebrate the opening o f the Broad Contemporary Art Museum on the LACMA campus on February 16, 2008.

[Photo of Kruger's video projection at LACMA facing 6th Street and Fairfax Avenue by Fredrik Nilsen, courtesy West of Rome.]

I U.S. RECENT PROJECTS Watson

Thomas Sayre's FURROW is a m o n u m e n t a l

The McDowell Colony, the elite artists' and

sculpture made o f concrete and the iconic

writers' retreat in Peterborough, New Hamp-

red- clay-rich dirt o f North Carolina. Installed

shire, was 100 years old last year, and to mark

last fall near the Scaleybark station o f the South

the occasion, New York artist Anna Schuleit (a

Corridor transit line in Charlotte, the work is

2 0 0 6 McDowell resident) created a perfor-

made up o f six eighteen-foot-tall, eleven-ton

mance/installation centering around an ame-

circular forms that evoke the harrowing disks

nity that residents are denied while on the Mc-

that turn the soil for planting. Stretched out

Dowell grounds: the telephone. LANDLINES,

along 1,000 feet o f track, the shapes coalesce

performed d u r i n g the colony's Medal Day

when seen from a rapidly m o v i n g train. The

weekend (August 11 and 12) was composed o f

play o f m o r n i n g and afternoon light across

two parts: a stage presentation in which ten

the reddish forms creates what Sayre calls "a

oversized telephones hovered above the acting

light show that doesn't depend on LEDs or

area as local children, paired with McDowell

Why should graffiti writing be aimed only

electrical tricksâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just the sun." Incidentally, the

residents, recalled the colony's history. Then

at those who can see it? Artist Scott Wayne

work also stands for the somewhat uncertain

audience members repaired to the woods on

Indiana asked himself that question, and the

state o f public art along the transit route.

the grounds, where one hundred telephones

result was BRAILLE GRAFFITI: A PUBLIC ART

Furrow was one o f the commissions that did

o f various sizes and vintages were m o u n t e d

PROJECT FOR THE BLIND, a scattering o f five

not get the axe when rising costs in the transit

on one hundred trees, each phone bathed in

different phrases in Braille around Portland,

construction project forced a half-million-dollar

a " b o o t h " o f light. The phones rang in various

Oregon, during August o f last year. A visible

reduction in funding for public art along the

timbres and tones, and when visitors answered

title at each site allowed sighted passersby and

line. (Overall construction costs continued to

them, they heard recordings o f poetry, prose, or

friends to call blind people's attention to the

grow after the cuts, but the art budget did not.)

music by past residents, or took live calls f r o m

postings, which included "You don't have to be

Five free-standing art works were cancelled in

former residents around the country and the

blind to see the writing on the wall" and "Tiny

mid-creation, according to Pallas Lombardi,

world. As the event's playbill put it, "The live

bubbles that randomly arose from the paper in

public art administrator for the Charlotte Area

voice on the line could be Michael Chabon's or

this arrangement." Indiana, known for sculp-

Transit System (CATS). A m o n g the cancelled

Meredith Monk's, or an artist you d o n ' t know

tures o f horses at various sites in Portland, said

projects were the refashioned Queens Park

but whose work has earned her or him t i m e to

that the Braille Graffiti idea "has been explored

theater tower sign by New York-based R. M.

work and think and talk under the very trees

somewhat, but I wanted to give it my own fla-

Fisher, a metal sculpture by Oregon artist Ed

where visitors to Medal Day will walk, talk, and

vor...complete with documentation that might

Carpenter, and a topiary planting by Florida

meet with the unexpected, each ringing phone

spark an interest in reproducing the project in

artist Nitin Jayaswal. [Photo courtesy Chris

a surprise, for caller and called." [Photo

byJoanna

other cities." [Photo by Scott Wayne Indiana.]

Johnson/Clearscapes.]

Eldredge Morrissey, courtesy MacDowell

Colony.]

Sheltering a corner o f the new Trolley Square park in North Cambridge, Massachusetts since last October, is Nancy Selvage's WATER WALL, a curvilinear structural sculpture made o f layers o f perforated steel that create a diaphanous effect evoking flowing water as they protect and define a circular seating area near a busy intersection in the city. Selvage, w h o collaborated with landscape architect Rob Steck on the piece, claims "an interest in elusive spaces and ephemeral forms created through the interaction o f perforated steel and light." [Photo by Lillian Hsu.]

U.S. RECENT PROJECTS

Last fall produced a bumper crop o f public artworks in Detroit—mostly temporary, all linked with gallery shows by the artists, and all w i t h i n the M i d t o w n area, home to Wayne State University, the College o f Creative Studies art school, the M u s e u m o f Contemporary A r t - D e t r o i t ( M O C A D ) , and other major Motor City cultural institutions. British artist Martin Creed adorned the facade o f M O C A D with a l i o - f o o t - l o n g sentence in white neon, EVERYTHING IS G O I N G TO BE ALRIGHT, on view from October 2007 until January 2008. (The piece was originally slated to open d u r i n g a M O C A D show o f contemporary wordoriented conceptual artists, but installation was delayed while permit-issuing city officials debated whether the work was art or signage.)

Detroit conceptualist Miroslav Cukovic's untitled project also involved signage; on two bus shelters in front o f Work: Detroit, the University o f Michigan's satellite gallery in the city, these words appear in yellow vinyl letters: "Detroit Zoo 12 miles" and "Baghdad Zoo 6246 m i l e s " — b r i n g i n g the war home.

The piece was an outdoor c o m p o n e n t o f a Work:Detroit gallery show entitled

Intersection,

and so was Vito Valdez's Memorial

to Native

In November o f 2007 conceptual artist Dennis

Peoples/Border Baroque, a stark sculptural

Oppenheim unveiled MULTI-HELIX LIGHT-

image o f a skeleton on a pallet supported by

HOUSE TOWER, a public artwork on the site

a metal tripod, with a w o l f howling at its apex.

o f the new headquarters o f the Los Angeles

At the College for Creative Studies, New York

Police Department on San Pedro Bay. The

artist Orly Genger's mass o f black nylon rope

helical tower is meant to evoke the double helix

pads, entitled Concrete Poison, spilled, oozed,

o f D N A — a reference to the increasing use

and flowed d o w n the stairs to the campus'

o f genetic evidence in police investigations,

Center Galleries. Outside the Tangent Gallery

and to the prominence o f high-tech imagery

at Milwaukee and Oakland streets, sculptor Bob Sestok's massive What's on Your Mind was

In February, Florida-based glass artist Catherine

in the police shows produced by the LA-based

a piece o f public-art-by-default. The mural-size

Woods installed U N D E R G R O U N D SPRING,

entertainment industry. But, according to

painting on canvas, which depicted circular

a series o f circular glass portals set into the

Oppenheim, the tower also fuses two other

targets and explosions, was too big to join the

courtyard o f a building in Saint Petersburg,

functions and references: the surveillance

other works inside, which had been gathered

Florida, developed by Opus South. The

structure and—appropriately enough for a

for a show entitled "Guns," so it stood outside.

portals (actually laminated safety glass pavers

coastal setting—the lighthouse. " M y tower,"

And one major permanent work debuted

strong enough for pedestrian traffic, with a

says Oppenheim, "is not one o f surveillance

last fall, too: Tyree Guyton's Invisible Doors,

slip-resistant surface) reveal abstract designs

but, like a lighthouse, it provides guidance."

a fifteen-foot abstract steel sculpture in vivid

beneath, inspired by liquid droplet forms and

The $250,000 commission was sponsored

colors and polka dots. It was unveiled d u r i n g

illuminated by fiber optics. Half o f the circles,

by the City o f Los Angeles, and fabrication,

the last weekend in September in the courtyard

which are conceived as windows into the earth,

transportation, and installation o f the work

behind Wayne State University's Welcome

are executed in cool colors suggesting water;

were handled by La Paloma Fine Arts

Center. [Photo by Ellen Page Wilson, courtesy the

the other half are done in hot colors to evoke

o f Sun Valley, California, w h o worked with

artist and Covin Brown's enterprise.]

another subterranean liquid, lava.

Oppenheim on his Wave Form sculpture in

[Photos by Mike Rixon.]

Philadelphia. [Photo courtesy the artist.]

U.S. RECENT PROJECTS

TA

'

"The fountain is one o f the earliest forms o f public art," noted Jerry I. Speyer, chairman and CEO o f Tishman Speyer Properties, one o f the owners of New York's Rockefeller Center, on the occasion o f the unveiling o f an unconventional, spectacular—and waterless—temporary fountain in front o f the iconic building. The first public artwork by the British collaborative team o f Tim Noble and Sue Webster, ELECTRIC FOUNTAIN parlayed 1,279 f e e t o f

neon

tubing

and 3,390 LED bulbs into a thirty-five-foot-tall

The Post-It® note displayed its potential as a mosaic tile and a site for self-revelation when, in

cascade o f light that was on view between Feb-

August o f 2007, the New York-based guerrilla art group illegal art created T O DO, a cluster o f

ruary 27 and April 4. The piece took three years

some 5,600 sticky notes in pink and yellow, spelling out " t o d o " on a storefront in the D U M B O

to plan and design and, according to Doreen

neighborhood o f Brooklyn. The point o f the piece wasn't simply visual, however. Illegal art encour-

Remen o f the nonprofit Art Production Fund,

aged passersby to inscribe the notes with their own personal to-do lists, and the results ranged

which supported the work, it was "fabricated

from simple and universal v o w s — " H a v e more sex"—to explorations o f deeper personal territory:

like the most intricate, refined jigsaw puzzle."

"I doubt sometimes whether a quiet and un-agitated life would suit me; yet sometime I long for

Made in Aachen, Germany, the colorful foun-

it." Fully half o f the notes had been written on within two hours o f the project's unveiling. "It's a

tain was also environmentally "green," given

snapshot o f what people are thinking," said illegal art's Michael Mcdevitt, who helped build the

that its LED bulbs used about 70 percent less

piece. The collective, which has carried out similar participatory projects in fifteen cities, including

energy than conventional tungsten ones.

Chicago, Los Angeles, Barcelona, and Milan, is archiving the to-do lists at www.illegalart.org.

[Photo fay James Ewing.j

[Photos courtesy the artists.]

At and beyond Ground Zero, d o w n t o w n Manhattan is undergoing a building and reconstruction b o o m o f historic proportions, and thanks to a program called R e c o n s t r u c t i o n sponsored by the Alliance for Downtown New York and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, construction sites have become public art sites. Launched last November, BEST PEDESTRIAN ROUTE by GRO Architects, is a temporary walkway that's inspired by the graphic symbols that dominate construction zones: signs, arrows, and diagonal stripes. Near a not-yet-built southern entrance to the Fulton Street Transit Center, directional symbols m o r p h into abstract "leaves" that evoke a passage into summertime. The tilted and swooping form o f Best Pedestrian Route is made possible using digital fabrication technologies to precisely cut all o f the components off-site on a computernumerically-controlled (CNC) mill. The pre-fabricated component parts make assembly possible in the course o f several hours. In The Fulton Fence, by Venezuelan architect/designers Carolina Cisneros, Carlos ). Gomez de Llarena, and Mateo Pinto, yellow and orange plastic construction mesh, signage, and caution lights are collaged with chain link fencing into a lively mural that surrounds the site o f the water-main retrofitting on Fulton Street. (A parallel project is unfolding online atwww.fultonfence.net, in which process documentation, information about the site, downloads, and other interventions are "mashed-up" together in a cyber-collage.) And Tattfoo Tan has painted large concrete traffic barriers with zebra stripes, introducing a subtle jungle reference into his Concrete Jungle. The barriers will be re-used after the run o f the project, so these concrete "zebras" will reappear in the urban ecosystem well into the future.

[Photo by Jon Stuart.]

INTERNATIONAL RECENT PROJECTS

British beach huts—the little houses lining the seaside in resorts like Brighton and Blackpool where visitors change into their bathing costumes—hadn't changed much themselves in three hundred years—and then, in 2006, came BATHING BEAUTIES. The competition to "re-imagine the beach hut for the 21st century" inspired 240 architects and designers from fifteen countries to submit models for neo-huts to be erected alongside traditional ones on a quiet ten-mile stretch o f the Lincolnshire coast.

An exhibition o f all o f the models ran during the s u m m e r o f 2007 at The Hub: National Centre for Craft and Design, Sleaford, Lincolnshire, and four winners were selected to build their designs: Atelier N U o f Montreal, whose Halcyon Hut pays homage to the traditional beach hut look; artist Michael Trainor for Come Up and See Me (left), a two-story hut in the shape o f a gin and tonic; the London-based team o f Felix and Merlin, whose Eyes Wide Shut evokes a picture frame; and i-am associates of London, who createdJabba (above), billed as "the world's first contemporary cave." The huts are available for rental in the summer o f 2008 through the East Lindsey District Council. [Photos courtesy Bathing Beauties/Michael

Trainor.]

INVISIBLE ART APPEARS IN BURNLEY The town o f Burnley, Lancashire became the site o f invisible (or nearly invisible) public art in March, when a collaboration between local teenagers and the London-based art collective Greyworld debuted at several sites in the city.

Invisible is a series o f nineteen paintings and projections depicting animals, insects, funny street signs and local heroes (teachers, charity workers, etc.). The pictures can only be seen under ultraviolet lights, triggered by timers or by passersby tripping m o t i o n sensors at the various sites, which include a movie theater, a car park, and a bus station. The work is part o f the Big Art Project, a public art initiative put together by Britain's Channel 4 and supported

by Arts Council England and the Art Fund.

Burnley is the first o f seven communities across Britain to have its work go on display— and the only site where local young people were the "commissioners" o f the artwork.

Fifteen youth from four schools collaborated on the idea and on the selection o f Greyworld as art-partner. [Photo © Greyworld 2008.]

INTERNATIONAL RECENT PROJECTS

The English city of Newcastle-on-Tyne lit up the night last December with GLOW07, a public art project that quite literally highlighted the city's Winter Festival. Seven artists were

A major sample o f W e s t e r n Australia's best and most promising sculptorsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;plus additional artists

invited to create luminescent outdoor works.

from elsewhere in the country and around the w o r l d â&#x20AC;&#x201D; j o i n e d together between March 6 and 18,

Lothar Gotz illuminated sixteen buildings

2008, to create SCULPTURE BY THE SEA, a temporary sculpture park on Cottesloe Beach on the

and sites in Newcastle and nearby Gateshead

Indian Ocean between Perth and Fremantle. Backed by the popular surfing beach's sweeping vistas

under the heading Himmelblau

and spectacular sunsets were some fifty works o f art. Prize-winners in this year's outing o f the an-

(Heaven-

Blue) and Crimson. Susan Collins transformed

nual event (last year's venue was Sydney's legendary Bondi Beach) included Julia Adzuki and Mark

the windows o f the Tyne Bridge Tower into

Szulgit o f Sweden, w h o took home the $2,500 Aliens Arthur Robinson People's Choice Prize for

a rapid circuit o f intensely colored lights. In

Fossil, a plexiglas m o n o l i t h on a metal base w i t h i n which a branching, treelike shape could be seen,

93 S

Newcastle, Tanya Meditzky projected a series

and Tania Spencer o f W e s t e r n Australia, whose galvanized wire Pythonosaurus, a ghostly-looking

g

o f still images from Electric Pets, a comic

openwork snake form, garnered the $1,000 NAB Kids' Choice Prize. Other works on view included

3

animation which explores some absurd energy

Flight of Ideas, a bright, cartoonish image o f a stairway to nowhere by New South Wales sculptor

sources. Tod Hanson's Gable Engine (pictured above) was a rhythmical light projection on Newcastle's Quayside exploring themes o f architecture, energy, and waste. Zoe Walker

Linda Bowden; the looping wood-and-steel Siren's Imagining by Western Australia's Stuart Green;

3

and Japanese sculptor Haruyuki Uchida's minimalist-but-playful Gravity Circle, in bright red stain-

CTJ

less steel. [Photo of Tim Kyle's l-Sea sculpture by Jamie Williams.]

and Neil Bromwich presented Limbo-Land, a ghostly and poetic film mixing dream imagery and images o f lunar exploration, filmed at night at Goswick Sand, north o f Holy Island, Northumberland. For the QEII Metro Bridge, Nayan Kulkamiwich designed a colorful and constantly changing light work linked to the tidal movements o f the Tyne. Some 140 LED lights illuminate the bridge with bands o f color determined by digital photographs sent in by the public. Lulu Q u i n n created glass and stainless steel arch as a meeting point and a platform for observing the riverside.

Ten thousand LED lights randomly oscillated within the arch, making it appear to wobble, fall down, and rebuild itself. Miles Thurlow and Cath Campbell created NO NO NO NO NO, a temporary text work that glowed subtly, raising questions about how one experiences the everyday environment. Edwin Li's Shadowplayl involved a mobile unit traveling across Newcastle and Gateshead encouraging city-goers to make shadows at different sites, and Jordan McKenzie, in collaboration with amino, contributed Universe. McKenzie took two copies o f Stephen Hawking's book A Brief

The Danube may be famous as a very blue river, but f r o m the air it has a greenish cast. So when

History of Time and completely blacked out

Spanish land artist Maider Lopez decided in September o f 2007 that he wanted to make Buda-

each page except for the figure zero and the

pest's Danube-spanning Chain Bridge "disappear" for air travelers overhead, he gave 4 , 0 0 0 local

letter 'o'. A m i n o produced a film o f the work

citizens green umbrellas and orchestrated a massive "stand-in" on the 150-year-old structure,

which was projected at two locations during

which links the city's two main sections, Buda and Pest. Part o f the point o f DUNAFELFEDES,

the festival. [Photo by Fisher Hart.]

said Lopez, was to call attention to pollution in the iconic river. The bridge-standers got to keep their brollies. [Photo courtesy the artist.]

5

INTERNATIONAL RECENT PROJECTS

Artist Giny Vos has created a loo-meter-long, 4-meter-high glass wall m a r k i n g the border between the redesigned railway station square in Apeldoorn, Holland, and the train platforms. Unveiled in January, TRAVELING SAND's more than 1.3 million LEDs behind the etched glass o f the wall create a constantly shifting three-dimensional landscape o f "sand dunes" that are moved and altered by an invisible " w i n d , " creating a feeling o f silence and emptiness in the busy and information-rich station environment. The blowing " s a n d " within the wall makes different, constantly changing patterns o f m o v e m e n t , ranging f r o m a heavy sandstorm to a soft breeze to complete tranquility. When calm, the patterns can also change with the m o v e m e n t o f sunlight, which picks out or obscures the contours o f the sand hills. For the work, Vos collaborated with 3D animator Bram Verhavert on a special computer program that controls the LED "choreography." [Photo by Cert Jan van Rooji.]

As part o f its urban regeneration plan and its declared goal to become a major African art When the Brazilian metropolis o f Sao Paulo

and cultural hub, the city o f Johannesburg has

banned billboards in April o f last year, graffit-

been c o m m i s s i o n i n g art for its public places

ists were deprived o f one kind o f surface to tag

for a number o f years. A recent addition to the

and embellish. A resourceful art duo decided to

city's public-art patrimony is ELAND by South

might be t e m p t e d to question their vision or

lower their sights—quite literally—and create

African sculptor Clive van den Berg, installed

their sanity when they see not just one m o o n

Citizens o f Vienna glancing up at the night sky

a sewer art project known as 6EMEIA (a play on

last year in the music- and art-rich Braamfon-

but five. They have no need to worry though, as

the Greek w o r d for " s i g n " ) . Anderson A u g u s t o

tein neighborhood, a once-rundown central-city

it is merely Johannes Vogl's installation F U N F

(aka SAO) and Leonardo Delafuente (whose

area that is being revitalized with the aid o f arts

M O N D E ("Five M o o n s " ) . Vogl has removed

nom d'art is D lafuen T) transformed sewer

organizations and the University o f the Witwa-

the company logos f r o m the light boxes on five

drains into the open m o u t h s o f cartoon faces—

tersrand. The large-scale concrete image o f the

huge cranes at a construction site and replaced

including a cop, a robber, a turntablist wearing

iconic African antelope is studded with green

t h e m with his drawings o f the moon. In order

earphones, Santa Claus, a vampire, Batman

plantings, which will fill the animal's shape

to allow different sections o f the city to experi-

and Robin, and even Magritte's bowler-hatted

o u t as they grow. " M y ambition was a simple

ence this unique "astronomical" phenomenon,

one," van den Berg told an interviewer, "that o f

the cranes' positions are shifted nightly accord-

m a n with an apple in front o f his face. More images the temporary works and a m a p o f the sites can be f o u n d at www.6emeia.com.

[Photo courtesy Andy

Vines/6emeia.j

beauty. O u r lives are enriched with beauty, and

ing to the direction o f the prevailing winds.

that was my motivation."

The display runs through June 2008.

[Photo courtesy the artist.]

[Photos by Johannes Vogl.]

Arte^ArchitectureJournal

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â&#x20AC;˘

Art & Architecture Journal - The leading UK magazine for public art collaboration, contemporary urban culture & architecture A^AJ66/67. Spring 2008 - New Icons of the North - 96 page special issue on the Northern Way art programme - published May 1st 2008 E aaj@artandarchitecturejournal.com

www.artandarchitecturejournai.com Image:

'Culture II'by Bryan and Laura

Davies

FULTON C O U N T Y ARTS

COUNCIL

C E L E B R A T I N G 15 Y E A R S OF PEACEMAKING 1993-2008 Since the inception of the Fulton County Public Art Program in 1993, forty-five Georgia artists have been awarded commissions to create artwork for thirty-six Fulton County facilities including senior centers, libraries, parks, arts centers, court buildings, and even the medical examiner's office.

The selected artists have created unique pieces of art that enhance the public spaces, making government buildings better places to conduct business and serving to promote community pride.

I M A G E : A m y Landesberg, Sun. . .orange, green, blue and blue 2OO5.

C e n t e r f o r Health and Rehabilitation

www.fultonarts.org ^

â&#x20AC;˘ *"1*"*;

Georeria councicHfor tmi

Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission Artist Registry for the Sacramento International Airport

The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission invites artists to submit qualifications for upcoming projects at the Sacramento International Airport. For information and access to the Artist Registry Form visit

Just i m a g i n e what w e ' l l d o next...

www.sacculture.com Application Deadline August 4,2008

Kurt

fcrschke's

R e d B a l l Project, January 2008

Ten a p p e a r a n c e s across Scottsdale

D , i v e

Stroll.

Discover.

ScottsdalePublicArt.org

irfe

lo

LAST PAGE

Jack Mackie's Journal

Collaboration:

the

simple, ability to pull a

out of a hat, or sidewalk,

as the

the- program here? Apparently we need ' MINUTE C ) AND UNLOAD ONLY

"two-fer-one"

case may be. So what's to find a way to

^gct the- -free Into the diet that's under the sidewalk.; to ^get i t to ^row; to fee an expression of this

TOW ttWAY ZONE

neighborhood;

•to Send a meSSagf- that these folks living, here are alive, are invested in t h e longrterm, and are happij to weli^oivie t r e e dwelling, birds into t h e neighborhood. And the upside of this collaboration? T h e c i t j ^f-ts a hole by which

they

can inform us what we're not supposed to do at this location. A simple t w o - f e r collaboration—everyone

^ts

what theij need, and at half the price. Puh...

T h e easiest way to hill (Collaboration is to ignore it. htere it's t h e fixed, (oiow;-what-it's-doing, immovable, rock-Solid,

pro/en approach to what worfcs. And that's

a fair point of \/iew ("I foiow what works and i t ^gpeS lifce this...'3. In s collaboration every its validity, (wery

point of view has

point of view inust be ^given a fair

hearing That Said, what happens when one point of view ignores another? What happens when the

intractable

meets a moving. idea? And in this case, a really pvsh^ idea? Not ijuite the "rock--paper-scissors''

approach but

Vocfc.-i^orin^-another-idea-createS-a-collG'beration'* of sorts. And, as this progresses, "tree-nudgf>S-rocfc.~off-its-settied-point-of-view-and-perseveres* Sort of z^n koan like that and valid—j^t worth

^very

or Some

point of view is fair

learn to yield when it's time. Maybe it's

a new look. Why ignore that?

Accommodation. To many practitioners, this is a basic principle of urban design, of public art, of j u s t being. a ^gpod neighbor. This photo is from downtown Honolulu. H~ere are the questions: What came first: the building, or the palm trees? What's to be preserved, accommodated? There's no Such thing, as a blank, canvas once yov exit the room for the public sidewalk. there.

white

Someone else's idea is always

Yet, if we tafo:- the time to loot, we find the

palimpsest, all the

previous markings, ideas, hopes, or even

unintended and uninformed expressions. 6 u t take Take Stock.

a look.

Perhaps there's an idea already in place that

only needs to be accommodated and now it's ^jour ^great idea. T A - P A A I (and -they'll all think that you are

Oft

SO brilliant'} And, since Someone else had already

planted

these

palm trees, you accommodate

grown treeS

JACK MACKIE, peripatetic

them and you g&t full

for free! Puh...

public artist, wonders if there are any airports left with "CNN Free

Zones."

Over the past 20 years I have had the privilege of being a w a r d e d more than 50 public art projects a n d more than 150 private commissions across the United States and around the world.

During this time I've had the great satisfaction of building a world-class glass,

art

and

sculpture

studio,

making it possible for us to t a k e a project all the w a y from the tip of my pencil through installation.

All of my projects are fabricated right here at home in N a p a , keeping

public

art

California,

dollars

in

the

United States, employing local artists, artisans and craftspeople.

My studio is proficient in all forms of glass working techniques including enameling, kiln forming, carving and laminating.

Our work c a n b e found

in

walls,

curtain

railing

skylights and suspended incorporated into both

systems, sculptures

architecture

and landscape.

All of us here at Gordon Studio

appreciate

the

Huether

wonderful

opportunities w e ' v e had in public art and look forward to the possibility of working with you in the future.

www.gordonhuether.com