...or at least this piece does: The city of Liverpool is hosting this public artwork for a stretch of 18 months. It's called Turning the Place Over , by artist Richard Wilson . And really, how cool is this piece? I love it. It totally transforms our expectations of what a building, much less a wall, should do. It's the kind of public art that challenges ideas about reality, space, and stability. It tweaks the imagination. All of a sudden, you can mentally alter your own cityscape with buildings that bend, warp, and invert themselves. Let's face it, it's just plain nifty.
Now, if we here in San Diego county could stop giving our precious dollars to support public art that looks like this ... or this ... the quality of which leads to vandalism and pranks...then maybe we can add value to our public spaces in ways that challenge and inspire us.
What are your favorite works of public art in San Diego? What pieces make you cringe?
kloeamongtheturks
October 25, 2007 at 05:39 PM
Hi, just found your pieces. Thanks for great writing!
I've been talking to my students about the surfer, and to a one they all hate it, for all the wrong reasons... sigh. I just saw it for the first time and was stunned by the location. What could have been.
My SD favs: Running Fence by Robert Irwin (NEVER get tired of it) and the bear by Tim Hawkinson, both on UCSD.
Kloe
www.kloeamongtheturks.blogspot.com
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