Quote:
Originally Posted by CaptainYooh
That's quite a leap though. IKEA sucks. It's cheap and ugly. Just like this crap. We can't afford a world class public art yet; we're not that big of a city. But, in a purely Canadian inferiority complex fashion, we want to be viewed as world-class in all aspects of our boring municipal being. So, we buy this idiocy for half a million and try convincing ourselves it's world-class. 
Many tend to forget that Calgary already is a world-class city. One of the most desirable places on earth to live in. Why bother cheapening it with something like this? |
The IKEA reference was more of a tongue-in-cheek comment joking 'here, we have art and it's from Sweden! We are world class!' ...even though it's crap all the same.
Calgary is definitely a world-class city; well, definitely on it's way to being one. It's ranked as one of the most livable cities on Earth, but I wouldn't put it in the same 'world class' tier as a Toronto, Vancouver, Melbourne, Vienna, etc. which are all universally agreed to be top 'world class' cities.
I'm not defending the aesthetics of this particular art piece, but you have to remember that at one point the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House, hell - even our own Peace Bridge - were all considered abominations and the architects (artists) were ridiculed and scorned... until they weren't and the structures, over time, were publically accepted and revered. I'm not saying the Bowfort Towers are going that way, but history has proven that people need time to accept things that are different. This art piece is already a nationally, and perhaps internationally, recognized work, whether people like it or not. It will definitely be interesting to watch what happens here.