from Hyperallergic article about Mark di Suvero‘s, Joie de Vivre. here
image taken from the same Hyperallergic article as above.
What is public space for? Is it for protests? Relaxation? Public art works, places to play, see a little nature, eat, walk the dog? Walking around Zuccotti park with the Occupy Wall Street protesters made me really question my commitment to public art works. Suvero's sculpture felt so irrelevant and out of touch with the movement. What purpose does this sculpture serve the people when there is a need for political reform and mass protests? The extent of my interaction with the work at the park was when my friend told me to meet him under the big red sculpture, and then we quickly departed from there. Public artists claim they are giving art to the masses, beautifying the everyday, engaging many; compared to gallery art, this might be true, but are they as successful as we would hope? I doubt it.
Mark di Suvero, The Peace Tower, 1966. Image and a must read article here
As the article by Greg notices, Suvero's work has an interesting political history, one that could be relevant to the #OWS movement. Yet, is that information, which would be present in a gallery, lost in a public sphere? Why isn't there more information about public art works readily accessible?
Hopefully Richard McCoy's Wikipedia Saves Public Art project really takes off and the information behind these works can become more accessible.
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