public art comparisons with a common vocabulary
DESCRIPTION
This is a survy of public art from around the world with a vocabulary to use to compareTRANSCRIPT
Public Art - A Mixed Vocabulary
The following concepts are commonly used to describe public art. The descriptions are contested, mostly at the
margins, and quite subjective; but they will help you categorize and discuss what you find appealing about
different types of public art
Public Art - A Mixed Vocabulary
Site integrated: Integrated into the construction of a facility, usually through design team process
Site specific: Designed for a specific location but can be detached if necessary
Portable Works: Paintings, prints, photographs, glass, ceramic, small sculptures that are displayed throughout city facilities Temporary Art: Short-term artwork, often tied programmatically to the work or mission of an event or organization.
Installation Art: Site specific art that temporarily transforms a space.
Public Art - A Mixed Vocabulary
Gateways: Creating a sense of arrival.
Transit/wayfinding: Providing orientation for travelers.
Murals: Part of a town-enhancement strategy.
Performance Art: Interdisciplinary performance mostly unscripted and usually presented only one time
Placemaker Art: Defines a community gathering place
Street Furniture: Benches, Streetlights, hatch covers/pavement, gates and fences, wall decoration
Public Art - A Mixed Vocabulary
Think about these concepts as you view the following examples of public art from around the world
Myrtle Edwards Park, Michael HeizerAdjacent, Against, Upon, 1976
Tilikum Place Park, James Wehn, Chief Seattle Fountain, 1909
Seattle Art Museum, Jonathan Borofsky,
Hammering Man, 1991
Sidewalk Stamps • Seattle, Washington
Yarn-bombingSeattle, New York, Toledo
MuralsPhiladelphia, Chicago, Seattle
Fremont NeighborhoodSeattle, Washington
Repurposed Lenin statue from former USSR
Fremont NeighborhoodSeattle, Washington
Repurposed ICBM missileFremont Neighborhood
Seattle, Washington
Grass BladesPainted steel sculpture • 2003
Seattle, WashingtonJohn Fleming and Susan Zoccola
Downtown mural • Portland, OR
The Spiders • Bronze • ClevelandTemporary art installation
Louise Bourgeois
Father and Son, 2005. Olympic Sculpture Garden
Seattle, Washington Louise Bourgeois
Puppy, 1992 Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain
Jeff Koons
Public Seats
Fremont NeighborhoodSeattle
Public TransportationSeattle, Washington
Fire Station ArtSeattle, Wash
Ziggurat–East, Summer • Abandoned Fisher Body Plant, DetroitSculptural installation and photography project
Scott Hocking
Cloud Gate • Millennium Park, ChicagoAnish Kapoor
The Gates • Central Park, New York • 2005Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Steam Pig 2010 Art Prize
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Aires Libres Montreal, Canada 2011
Claude Cormier
Seattle, Prague
Bell Town PopsicleSeattle, Washington
Catherine Mayer
Big Blue Bear(I see what you
mean) •
Colorado Convention
Center, Denver•
Elizabeth Thomsen
Eyeball benches • Seattle, WALouise Bourgeois
Co2LED • Arlington County, VASolar-powered LEDs on rods, each topped with a reused plastic bottle
Jack Sanders, Robert Gay and Butch Anthony
Art Tool, 12 foot imprint of Los Angeles as seen from above
Santa Monica, 1986
Pocket Beach Olympic Park
Seattle, Washington
The SequenceBrussels
Arne Quinze
UchroniaNevada
Arne Quinze
Federal BuildingTacoma, Washington
Dale Chihuly
Balloon DogNew YorkJeff Coons
Cloud CityMOMA, New York
2012Tomás Saraceno
New York, Seattle
Odette Sculpture Park, Windsor
Odette Sculpture Park, Windsor
Odette Sculpture Park, Windsor
Odette ParkWindsor, Ontario
Memorial ArtToledo, New York
Pima Freeway, Scottsdale, Arizona
Nisbet Road Pedestrian Bridge Phoenix, Arizona
Alavadaro Water Treatment Plant, San Diego. Branded questions about San Diego water history, 1998
Waterfront FountainSeattle, Washington, 1974
James Fitzgerald and Margaret Tompkins
Waterfront Place FallsVancouver, British Columbia