7 Comments

Don't get me started on public art! First thing I would do is ban ALL public art from the countryside/non-urban areas. But the debate re good v bad public art is as slippery as what we define as good art (specifically contemporary art). The dross masquerading as public art only suffers from the same problem as what is regarded as good (or bad) contemporary art. Arbitrary selection/taste. So, to cite a bad example of contemporary art in a public space, albeit within a building in an urban context I give you Christine Borland's installation in Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery. Its not only unfathomable (because its wafer thin in substance) but it LOOKS like tat, too. For me, the selection of this artist (well-regarded by the contemporary art establishment) is no different from the ubiquitous metal figures of Andy Scott which appear, like Gorman's casts of himSelf (sic) all over the place. Different art crowd/demographic for sure but equally tat.

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What is problematic for me is that they hide behind public consultations to obscure the values presented.

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And that Central Station monolith is a horror!

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Have you seen the new public art in Pollok Park by Alec Finlay? They must not have had any budget it looked like trash before it was even installed. Every time I come upon one on a walk I think 'ugh' leave my nice nature experience alone.

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Ha I would like to check it out but I don’t know where it is. Again, I think it is another piece where the process was more important than the output

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We’re due a walk- let’s mosey that way next time you are local? Leads much to think of in the layering of history/nature/politic and the long standing architecture/design/art as seen in Pollok house or even in juxtaposition to the vast offerings at the Burrell.

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Sounds great!

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