Who is we? Again, if this is a homage to the indigenous, were they consulted on what they would like to see? Maybe they'd love a warrior on his horse.
If it's not a homage to the natives, then why try to half ass it and say it is?
You know like a lot of ncaa teams have had to change their native american imagery. Some, like you said, asked and got to keep it like the FSU Seminoles and their wicked cool chief that rides out and plants a flaming spear at center field before games. But several others don't like warrior themed native american stuff. An artist we've represented for years often gets criticism for his native american sculptures being too "imperialist" ...too much focused on the warrior brave before going into battle... maybe against other tribes but also very possibly against their European conquerors. But yeah, I'm always for tasteful imagery and asking permission.
What do you guys think about the trout on glenmore by Chinook? I think it's pretty nice. Too bad the entire stretch was under water right after it opened.
Love it, and I don't think it was ever underwater.
So a question, which native choose this piece, as NAFTA considerations aside art has to be chosen, and art supposed to honour natives must have been picked with extensive native, blackfoot even, consultation, several natives even native artists must have been part of the panel that picked this crap right?
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At the same time though, would you want New York to be closed for Calgary artists to be able to work on public art commissions?
I guess it depends on what it is. If it is something very specific to New York where a Calgary artist just wouldn't have the right feel for it then no they probably shouldn't. This piece was about the Blackfoot people, I just don't think an artist from New York was the right choice.
As for the broader picture, you're right.
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Wow, that is pathetic. I'm all for public art and the idea of showing off the rundle stone is cool but something like that should be in an easily accessible public area not on the side of a highway.
Also, the native imagery thing just seems like a way to justify the cost, much like how the Finger Trap Bridge was named the Peace Bridge. It's obviously not native art or representative of the Blackfoot when it was designed in New York.
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A half million dollars for probably $10,000 dollars worth of crappy materials and no thought in it whatsover. The rocks, they look like they float.
But its got its basis in indigenous concepts of earth wind and fire, at least that's what the lady in change of arts says
Meanwhile the treaty 7 and Blackfoot weren't consulted and they're like "What the frack is this garbage, we don't know what she's talking about".
Wouldn't it have been smart for the committee to bring representatives in on the selection to say, "yeah we get it"
Someone got conned, but I know why this piece of junk was purchased. Because the artist was from New York, and the people on the selection committee were like "rabble rabble, New York Artist". I think its also hilarious that the media tried to contact the artist who's not ever going to return their phone call.
We spent a half million dollars on some rusty scrap metals and some rocks.
I'm not opposed to art, I love art. But man this ranks right up there with the big blue circle of love.
And who puts it somewhere that nobody is going to notice it or give a crap about it.
Maybe we can take these things apart and build the worlds largest swing set with it.
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Last edited by CaptainCrunch; 08-04-2017 at 08:59 PM.
This thing is pretty ugly and I don't get it but I'm pretty happy Blackfoot or treaty 7 or any other aborigonal group wasn't consulted. Art is subjective but I find 99% of traditional Native art to be pretty ugly overall.
I like the piece. Looks interesting to me. Art is only art if it's challenging. Otherwise it's just decoration.
I know people are going to disagree with me. That's fine. Actually, that's the point of art.
It's not though. Art, in any of its forms, is a derivative of ideas and feelings expressed through talent and skill. All of those components are variables and, because of that, art can be good, bad, mediocre etc. The level of these variables define the overall quality of an art piece.
We saw Yoko Ono's white paper-mache cubes, cylinders and balls exhibition in Rio de Janeiro a few years ago. Supposedly, they represented her feelings and ideas. But Yoko's talent and skill levels are extremely low. She's not able to express her ideas and feelings artistically, and that's exactly how her work looks like - amateurish and primitive. So do these metal structures - lacking any good ideas, feelings, talent or skill.
Until someone's work stood the test of time, it should not even be called art; it's just a decoration (good or bad). Calling it art and explaining why it is art are just proven ways of marketing to sell it for more money to suckers (us).
Michelangelo's "Pieta" at St. Peter's Basilica is art. Da Vinci, Dürer, Rembrandt, Velaskes, Dali, Rodin - that's art.
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It's a bunch of riverbed rocks. But it's stuck in a chain link fence tube. It kind of looks like a big rock snake. It's a 2014 installation beside the emergency bunker on top of the hill in Crescent Heights. It's part of the Calgary public art thing too. So 500k. I didn't even know it was there.
Art seems to be taking something natural and pretty and tooling I into something more man made and strange.
It's a bunch of riverbed rocks. But it's stuck in a chain link fence tube. It kind of looks like a big rock snake. It's a 2014 installation beside the emergency bunker on top of the hill in Crescent Heights. It's part of the Calgary public art thing too. So 500k. I didn't even know it was there.
Art seems to be taking something natural and pretty and tooling I into something more man made and strange.
I always have to keep my kids from climbing all the way up that thing.
