Public Art - the dark underbelly

I've always been suspicious of "public consultations" (on proposed urban rezoning, for example), and I'm even more cynical about "public art." In Vancouver these days, there's one offense after another, in either or both of these categories. I'll leave the dark rezoning stories to the many local blogs dedicated to the betrayal being felt by neighbourhoods under assault, and I'll stick to the art. The so-called art.

A few months ago, I started using the Kensington branch of the Vancouver Public Library, just two blocks away from us. I'd once returned books there several years ago and found that they'd just begun to install metal animal sculptures as the public art component of a new condo and commercial building complex that itself outraged the neighbourhood with its excessive height.

With those first small sculptures, the entrance to this lovely brand-new library became... ooh...ugh...creepy...repulsive...with RATS. I tried to think Pied Piper of Hamlin but, no, a vicious-faced beaver was leading the rodent pack.

Fast forward to 2013 when I happened on the full catastrophe, the completed installation, starting with this stomach-churning embrace of a giant pig and a python. ("Mum, is that the kind of snake that wrapped around the two little boys and....." "DON'T LOOK, KID, don't look!").

There's a smaller porcine sculpture which looks like a mass of congealed piglet, but mercifully my photo was compromised by the strong August shadows. ("They wouldn't want to see them anyway," said JT). And okay, there's one grouping that I almost like -- the otters who hang out near a mini-waterfall.

There's still something nasty about their facial expressions, though -- a weak spot of this artist, I think. I mean....does this bear look like it has anything but evil intentions? And does this child look like he's imagining a can of bear spray in his left hand? Definitely not Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin.

These animals lurk about the courtyard through which the library is accessed -- initially a big surprise to library staff and patrons who had no say in the selection of the public art nor its placement. (You can read more about what the series is supposed to represent here -- an article in the local newspaper that coincidentally appeared, just as I was thinking about taking these pictures). But imagine the surprise of the condo residents who woke up one morning to find perched on the heights, three storeys up, this vulture with a 12-foot wing span.

Okay, another admission: On my (short) preference list, the vulture ties with the otters -- but it's not MY balcony it's sinking its claws into.

At the bottom of my preference list is another Vancouver public art mistake:-- the $100,000 white plastic poodle-on-a-pole installed in one of the few remaining neighbourhoods that harbours small artisans, antique shops, small-scale jewellery and fashion designers, and ethnic restaurants and coffee shops. You can imagine the hackles raised there by this piece of kitsch.

The commissions for both the poodle and the Kensington animal sculptures were for mega-bucks and were awarded to out-of-province artists. That's how things happen in the dark underbelly of the City of Vancouver in these sorry times.

P.S.  As I sit in the library hurriedly posting this blog, I know the rats are waiting for me just outside the door.

Back to the future

"Obsessionated." It's a mixed-up word -- a malapropism -- passed along with relish by my lifelong friend, a food-and-fascinations blogger. I like it! It certainly describes my feelings about the features and individualities of old buildings, both the Downtown Details of my working days and the quirky charms of old family houses like those on our side of town that are falling fast to the wreckers' ball.

I'm fascinated by the variety in these old houses of windows, doors, porches, bays, roofs -- everything.

As I've sketched and occasionally photographed the details that catch my eye, I've finally decided to do something with them, in terms of painting. Meanwhile, I've also committed myself to exploring more adventurous byways in colour.

With this post, I'm introducing a planned series based on old architectural features and new (to me) colour possibilities. Here's the first of the series, "Colourful Past - Small Front Windows" copyright 2013).

In this series, I expect to be working in a looser style than in my traditional still lifes -- in this case, I textured some layers of paint by applying plastic wrap during the drying phase, an exciting process when the plastic is lifted from the dried paint, revealing unpredictable patterns of the underlying paint layer.

While I've already recognized some problems to be worked out, I've enjoyed this kind of splash. You can see the evolution of "Small Front Windows"here.

The works in the series might become more or less geometrical, more or less abstract, more or less colourful. Whether or not you like the concept, you'll be seeing more of the "Colourful Past" series from time to time. After all, I'm obsessionated.