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The Role of Public Art in Regenerating a Town :o)

Started by: jo anne (34699) 

Wigan's Vertical Face ?! The Hirst is yet to come!

"The artistic merit of Damien Hirst's giant bronze statue of a pregnant woman has split opinions in Illfracombe, but it also raises the issue of the role of public art in regenerating a town."

BBC News

Verity is the splice of life.

What do you think?

Started: 16th Oct 2012 at 10:13

Posted by: veg grower (inactive)

I don't like the face at all, the sculpture of the pregnant woman is ok, the smaller scale being the better of the two.

I'm sorry, but I think the money should go to other things - just my opinion Jo anne.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 11:10

Posted by: jo anne (34699) 

No need for sorry, Veg Grower. Thanks for contributing your thoughts.

I had a variety of reactions to the full size Verity, but don't find the smaller scale sculpture quite as challenging.

Illfracombe council must be hoping that thinking big will work for them.

I've seen how public art can transform a place and put it on the map, sometimes. We enjoyed going to see Anthony Gormley's Another Place in the summer - it's a stretch of the coast we'd never have visited, but for the iron men.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:01

Posted by: veg grower (inactive)

I don't get that either.

I'm hard to please aren't I?

I do like the Eric Morecambe statue though. I hope they give him a wipe over every now and again, what with the seagulls...

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:18

Posted by: jo anne (34699) 

Yes, you're hard to please, indeed, Veg Grower.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:21

Posted by: jo anne (34699) 

It wouldn't do for us all to be the same.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:26
Last edited by jo anne: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:27:13

Posted by: mache (inactive)

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:43
Last edited by mache: 16th Oct 2012 at 13:44:59

Posted by: dostaf (inactive)

Arthur Dooley came to mind

I think he did soomething relating to pro life campaigns.

A controverisal 'birth sculpture' comes to mind.

Google time.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 14:55

Posted by: dostaf (inactive)

Nowt doing. I can see a bronze (rather graphic), in my mind, but think the controversial Dooley one was the one I linked to above.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 15:26

Posted by: jo anne (34699) 

I don't think I know of that, Dostaf.

Thanks for your link, Mache, v interesting - some of the sculptures are ingenious.

A few reminded me of a public artwork in Ince.

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 15:42

Posted by: jo anne (34699) 

From wikipedia - but I'll not link to it

'Daniel Edwards (born 1965, Indiana) is a contemporary artist whose pieces address celebrity and popular culture in ways that have often stirred controversy. The release of the pieces is generally accompanied by press releases. He includes the idea of promotion and associative fame in his own marketing of his art.

Daniel Edwards' life-sized statue of Britney Spears giving birth while nude on her hands and knees on a bearskin rug:

Edwards titled the piece "Monument to Pro-Life: The Birth of Sean Preston," explaining that it symbolized Spears' decision to put childbirth ahead of her career.[1] Britney Spears actually had a caesarean section.
'

Replied: 16th Oct 2012 at 21:34
Last edited by jo anne: 16th Oct 2012 at 21:35:02

Posted by: kathpressey (5590) 

i quite like it for a damien Hirst but i'd prefer if half hadn't shown the insides. i'm not sure how it fits in with ilfracombe; something on a nautical theme would have been better.

Replied: 17th Oct 2012 at 17:51

Posted by: jo anne (34699) 

'I think the money should go to other things'

I've just read this in the BBC article, Veg Grower:

'The economic downturn and changes to arts funding ... have meant a decline in the commissioning of monumental sculptures.

Verity is different in that she is a long-term loan from the artist.
'

Kathp- 'I'm not sure how it fits in with Illfracombe'

I think the first signs of life on Earth began in the sea, and we're in water (amniotic fluid) while in the womb, so perhaps Verity can belong beside the seaside, Kath. (And some mums-to-be feel like a beached whale! )

If people grow to associate Illfracombe with Verity, then it might become a case of 'home is where the art is'.

If I stay in Devon in the future, I'd be personally more likely to visit Illfracombe whilst there, because of the opportunity to see her.

Replied: 18th Oct 2012 at 09:13
Last edited by jo anne: 18th Oct 2012 at 09:15:43

 

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