19 December 2008

Another whacky flailing-arm non-inflatable headless chopstick man sprouts up on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong

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According to the ABC, the “sister-sculpture” of the public artwork on the Yamba Drive roundabout has swung into life on the shores of Lake Tuggeranong.

People are apparently complaining that the ACT Government probably could have found a local artist instead of a Kiwi to do the work, thereby wasting a perfectly good chance to complain about the relative merit of the piece itself (especially since we have one already).

Pics anyone? One might assume that it’s not terribly different from the aformentioned sculpture in Woden.

[ED – I particularly liked the chiefly saying his art purchasing should be judged on the same standard as the national gallery]

UPDATED: Skidbladnir has sent in some photos. Slideshow below:

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Pommy bastard8:48 am 28 Dec 08

ricketyclik said :

..

Well, my point of view is that if we don’t fund public art publicly it won’t happen,

No one will shed tears then, apart from the artists on the public teat.

I want to live in a city which has public art (as almost all cities do) and I pay a significant amount of tax and I vote.

Unfortunately public art is not a major issue when it comes to election time. If it were put to a referendum “would you like your tax dollars spent on this kind of crap”, then I think the answer would be a resounding “No!”.

Public art is “public” only as it is placed in public places, it has little meaning to or attraction for the public at large.

One could also argue that the word art in “public art” is a misnomer too, “public insult” may be a better term.

… Now, explain to me under what circumstances someone in Australia would have trouble feeding their children, and how reducing arts funding will make any difference to that.

My real point is, as people above alluded to with the sports funding example, that we fund many more things than straight survival.

Your argument seems to be one of small government, ie, if we need it to survive, fund it, if not, don’t.

Well, my point of view is that if we don’t fund public art publicly it won’t happen, I want to live in a city which has public art (as almost all cities do) and I pay a significant amount of tax and I vote.

Thus when people call for public art to cease I ask “is your life really only about how much you can consume, or would you like to perhaps consider other questions during your short stay on this planet?”.

Although, having read around this site a bit, I gather jakez that you are a Liberal party organiser? So perhaps your opinions in this matter are more to do with populist point scoring against your political rivals than what sort of city you’d like to live in?

jakez, first you argue that because of my opinions I might be subject to violence, then you claim I am evil.

Do you ever argue with actual logic?

ricketyclik said :

Posted by Jakez:

jakez said :

Incidentally, I wouldn’t actually give your opinion on the esoteric benefits of public art to anyone who can’t afford to feed their kids. You are liable to find yourself the victim of a crime.

Anyone who can’t afford to feed their kids in this society needs to have a long hard look at themselves.

Wow, you truly are an evil evil person aren’t you. Thank god this person has the vote.

Pommy bastard8:23 pm 25 Dec 08

sepi said :

I

If you won’t pay, the only thing you can afford is grafitti.

Utter nonsense.

Posted by Jakez:

jakez said :

Incidentally, I wouldn’t actually give your opinion on the esoteric benefits of public art to anyone who can’t afford to feed their kids. You are liable to find yourself the victim of a crime.

Anyone who can’t afford to feed their kids in this society needs to have a long hard look at themselves.

sepi said :

I am happy to have interesting artworks by experienced or qualified artists, and pay them a fair price for their efforts.

If you won’t pay, the only thing you can afford is grafitti.

er, who is paying, again? Are you choosing to pay them, from your pocket?

I am happy to have interesting artworks by experienced or qualified artists, and pay them a fair price for their efforts.

If you won’t pay, the only thing you can afford is grafitti.

Pommy bastard8:08 pm 23 Dec 08

sepi said :

Free public art = grafitti.

Is that what you’d prefer?

Sepi, you cannot equate vandalism with “public art”, it’s a ludicrous analogy. You can get rid of the silly art works, without having to have vandalistic scrawls instead. One does not preclude nor beget the other of necessity.

sepi said :

Free public art = grafitti.

Is that what you’d prefer?

Absolutely.

Pommy bastard7:07 pm 23 Dec 08

Jakez, sorry I accidentally included your name on my post up there. It looks as if I’m replying to you, whereas I’m actually replying to the absurd ideas posted by ricktyclik.

My apologies.

Incidentally, I wouldn’t actually give your opinion on the esoteric benefits of public art to anyone who can’t afford to feed their kids. You are liable to find yourself the victim of a crime.

ricketyclik said :

Posted by jakez:

jakez said :

Mate nobody is saying let’s have an artless society, art exists outside of Government mate and always has. My objection is using taxpayers funds to pay for art. That’s not the role of Government. You call us philistines but who the hell are you? What right do you have? If you want art, do the hard yards to raise the money without using the government’s monopoly on force.

As for 1%, there are a lot of families in Canberra that could use that 1% for something a bit more important than a sculpture. If you are in such a great position that you can afford the luxury of art, THAT’S GREAT! Just don’t take poor peoples money to fund your habit.

As far as I’m aware almost all art in public spaces in all cities is publicly funded. If there’s no funding for it, it doesn’t exist.

It’s been well demonstrated that the built environment has a profound influence on people’s pshyches. If there were more public art, maybe those poor families would have gotten quals and decent jobs instead of ending in whatever dead-end quagmire that they have.

General revenue is the community’s money. As a member of the community, I voted for public art (and got it).

So we have our money taken by bandits and we all get to vote on what its spent on? OH JOY! OH RAPTURE! What a fantastic system, where instead of me deciding for myself, I get 1/300,000th of a vote. I feel very represented.

Government has a legitimate purpose in protecting life liberty and property. I will also say that it should provide a safetynet. Anything after that is just public choice theory in action. If you feel happy that something you wanted could not have happened without the Government forcing people to pay for it, well mate I can’t change your black heart.

Pommy bastard4:42 pm 23 Dec 08

ricketyclik said :

Posted by jakez:

It’s been well demonstrated that the built environment has a profound influence on people’s pshyches. If there were more public art, maybe those poor families would have gotten quals and decent jobs instead of ending in whatever dead-end quagmire that they have.

You cannot be serious?

Free public art = grafitti.

Is that what you’d prefer?

Posted by jakez:

jakez said :

Mate nobody is saying let’s have an artless society, art exists outside of Government mate and always has. My objection is using taxpayers funds to pay for art. That’s not the role of Government. You call us philistines but who the hell are you? What right do you have? If you want art, do the hard yards to raise the money without using the government’s monopoly on force.

As for 1%, there are a lot of families in Canberra that could use that 1% for something a bit more important than a sculpture. If you are in such a great position that you can afford the luxury of art, THAT’S GREAT! Just don’t take poor peoples money to fund your habit.

As far as I’m aware almost all art in public spaces in all cities is publicly funded. If there’s no funding for it, it doesn’t exist.

It’s been well demonstrated that the built environment has a profound influence on people’s pshyches. If there were more public art, maybe those poor families would have gotten quals and decent jobs instead of ending in whatever dead-end quagmire that they have.

General revenue is the community’s money. As a member of the community, I voted for public art (and got it).

Sculptures are good for my part!

A nice cultural bent for our capital city.

Thank your lucky stars folks that it is down in Booner-dom and no in the Parliamentary Triangle – remember the ‘kinetic’ scarlet feminist bad-art sculpture that Betty Churcher wanted to put smack bang in the vista between the War Memorial and Parliament House?

I happen to think it’s OK – except for the green & gold. That’s stupid.

Pommy bastard2:07 pm 20 Dec 08

sepi said :

It is so weird how people on this site love music and hate art – how does that work?

If a “musician” sold the ACT govt his CD’s of his music, and they were distributed to households, but when you played it, it was an hour of water buffalo farting underwater, accompanied by the sound of fridges being pushed downstairs, and frogs being fed into a blender, would you think the money well spent?

Why then, when our money is spent by the govt on broken clocks, egg cup holders with rocks in them, and scrap metal by the roadside, are we supposed to be happy about it?

I’m happy for taxpayer funded sport (ovals and pools anyway), AND I want plenty of taxpayer funded art.

It is so weird how people on this site love music and hate art – how does that work?

As far as an artist doing similar sculptures – that is how a series of art is made. The artist doesn’t presume to have made the perfect masterpiece the first time, they make a series of works on a theme, exploring the same theme and working on interesting variations. Kinda like how all early beatles songs sound similar – they shoulda just stopped after one song hey?

Art, like sport, needs taxpayer funds, as otherwise artists could not afford to live and make art, and there would be very little art made – particularly large durable sculpture. And society would be the poorer for it.

“My objection is using taxpayers funds to pay for art.”

I object taxpayers money going towards sport. Taxpayers funding people so they can learn to run around a field and swim up and down a pool, now that is a waste of money.

Bullshit.

The ALP went to the election promising to maintain the policy of spending 1% of the capital works budget on public art. 1%. How will we cope?

You lot are philistines. Personally I love the fact that more than the Parliamentary Triangle and the CBD are getting art now – why should it be confined to those places?

If life were purely confined to the functional, we would just be animals. But then sadly judging by the posts here, it seems that most of us are.

Mate nobody is saying let’s have an artless society, art exists outside of Government mate and always has. My objection is using taxpayers funds to pay for art. That’s not the role of Government. You call us philistines but who the hell are you? What right do you have? If you want art, do the hard yards to raise the money without using the government’s monopoly on force.

As for 1%, there are a lot of families in Canberra that could use that 1% for something a bit more important than a sculpture. If you are in such a great position that you can afford the luxury of art, THAT’S GREAT! Just don’t take poor peoples money to fund your habit.

a local artist did that naval memorial on Anzac Parade, the one with all that water gushing out of it. It’s quite an impressive piece, but it took the bloke years to make it, and he seeemd to need to start his grinder up at 2am most nights. They had to get a low-loader in to cart it to Anzac Parade and it was in danger of snagging some of the power lines. It’s a shame they can’t commission some art more like that, rather than weird stuff.

Holden Caulfield11:54 am 20 Dec 08

johnboy said :

…I know Rembrandt painted a lot of hay stacks but how many of the same sculpture do we need by a kiwi?

So if Rembrandt is famous for haystacks, painted some 200 years after his death, where does that leave Monet, who’s been claiming the credit for the last 120 years?

“As for the tired old lines about my three year old could have done that painting, yeah right.”

Blue Poles (No.11)is one of many that the artist painted. I really like it. I also like the one he did with green poles. Ive seen people trying to do splatter art on a small scale and it is not as simple as finger painting. Nor the results as appealing. To do multiple art works on on such a large scale is truly talented.

You can try to copy the style of Jackson Pollock, but it will only ever be an imitation of his unique talent.

Good art should be many things to many people. Bad art is what it is and is probably just craft.

Personally I love Blue Poles.

Money well spent, at the time, for a new institution (although the collecting etc had been going on for some time)Blue Poles put the NGA on the map. You can’t buy that kind of publicity.

When planning international exhibtions composed of loaned works, Blue Poles is the best bargaining chip they have.

As for the tired old lines about my three year old could have done that painting, yeah right.

Posted by Very Busy:

Very Busy said :

These largely unwanted and expensive pieces of crap were a sizable issue in the recent ACT elections.

For this to continue after the election is arrogance to the highest order by Stanhope. Any respectful politician would have canned this sort of waste of money after such negative public views.

I see this as Stanhope rubbing salt into the Libs wounds knowing full well the libs campaigned against this waste at the last election.

GET A GRIP STANHOPE

Bullshit.

The ALP went to the election promising to maintain the policy of spending 1% of the capital works budget on public art. 1%. How will we cope?

You lot are philistines. Personally I love the fact that more than the Parliamentary Triangle and the CBD are getting art now – why should it be confined to those places?

If life were purely confined to the functional, we would just be animals. But then sadly judging by the posts here, it seems that most of us are.

GottaloveCanberra,

The wind farm at Bungendore is in NSW and by the way, it’s a legacy of the somewhat mismanaged wind division(or should I say hot air department) of Babcock & Brown whom ironically just happen to be in bed with Singapore Power, the ‘AGL’ in ActewAGL.

Bit insestuous all of this, is’nt it?

I would like to suggest an artistic extraction fan be placed over the top of the Legislative Assembly building. To generate power by the rising hot air.

Hello Jon, remember us! The Public!!!
Democracy! What Democracy????

A bit close to the paths for my liking! Feels as if your head is going to get chopped off! Couldn’t they have put, I don’t know, a nice rock or something there instead? Why must we bung all this post-modern stuff in our bush capital?

GottaLoveCanberra7:42 pm 19 Dec 08

Grasshopper, I’m fairly certain the windfarm you are talking about is the one out at Lake George.

Was a mighty suprise seeing about 10 giant windmills last time I was out there.

Well for starters.

The museum is full so we have to find other places to store this crap.

Secondly, the ACT People voted for Stanhope. We had our chance this year and you blew it. Now we have another 4 years of wasted funds, poor decisions and crappy artwork sprouting up all over what use to be the bush capital.

I must add that whilst I don’t mind the odd piece of art, I don’t particularly want it in my face everywhere I go.

Well it’s a much better spot, I would go and eat my lunch near it so I can watch it while I eat. I tried this on Yamba Drive but the honking traffic got annoying.

Coralie Wood was heard to thank the (Hail to the) Chief for this monument to the Jewish rite of circumcision after the first was (pardon the pun) erected.

Perhaps this is Stanhopes version of a kinetically cultural wind farm?
Does’nt look like this on the ACTEWAGL ads!

Oh! Bye the way. Does anyone actewily know where that wind farm is?

Reminisant of the Bagwan Rajneesh.
A lot of Orange that means nothing, or as Stanhope ( the big sheila )would say “tough titties”.

The one near wodo looks pretty cool when it’s actually spinning.

These largely unwanted and expensive pieces of crap were a sizable issue in the recent ACT elections.

For this to continue after the election is arrogance to the highest order by Stanhope. Any respectful politician would have canned this sort of waste of money after such negative public views.

I see this as Stanhope rubbing salt into the Libs wounds knowing full well the libs campaigned against this waste at the last election.

GET A GRIP STANHOPE

I quite like these kinetic sculptures and am planning to sprint down to Lake Tuggeranong the next time we have one of those severe wind warnings – it should be exciting.

Buy one, get one free?

Maybe there was a discount for buying in bulk.

jakez said :

This is the final in a series of works by New Zealand artist Phil Price that explores the interaction of wind and structure.”

So basically that’s a wanky way of saying the wind makes it move.

When I have bad wind I can make a doona move: Stanhope show me the money!

why don’t actewagl put in some turbines, paint them black with yellow blades and claim they are art?

most canberrans wouldn’t be able to tell the difference…

jakez said :

So basically that’s a wanky way of saying the wind makes it move.

It’s also a “work of art” that’s basically been done at least 3 times now.

I know Rembrandt painted a lot of hay stacks but how many of the same sculpture do we need by a kiwi?

What a load of cr!p. Stanhope obviously needs something to keep his (small) mind active. I’m sure Zimbabwe or somewhere similar would like the benefit of his nation-building talents. We sure as hell don’t.

hmm, mass produced windmills popping up all over the south…

are we sure this isn’t another power generation scam?

This is the final in a series of works by New Zealand artist Phil Price that explores the interaction of wind and structure.”

So basically that’s a wanky way of saying the wind makes it move.

Pommy bastard2:06 pm 19 Dec 08

Skidbladnir said :

Angel Wings is a wind activated kinetic-sculpture.

The sculpture’s ‘wings’ move gracefully in the slightest breeze and are intended to evoke the magical, imagined movement of an angel’s wings.

This is the final in a series of works by New Zealand artist Phil Price that explores the interaction of wind and structure.”

Is he promising it’ll be the last, please! From the description it sounds like he took one too many hits of the “brown acid” back in the 60’s…

We need a giant copy of the rude man of Cerne carved into the wastelands of what was once pine forests.

Cerne Abbas giant? Apparenlty if have sexual intercourse within the confines of his manhood, it’s supposed to aid fertility.

I tried that once. Mind you I was on my own. And the tourists didn’t look that impressed.

Reprobate said :

FFS! I’m headin’ down to Lake Tuggalot with my oxy acetalene set tonight…

careful! the cops might think you are after an ATM…

As if this wasn’t bad enough, Vicki Dunne’s response on the news yesterday truly blew my mind.

Instead of attacking it as a bad use of taxpayer funds, she goes on about how Stanhope should have used a local artist (likening it to The ACT Government’s current ‘shop local’ fraud).

Then Stanhope responds saying that Canberrans should have the best available, himself contradicting the message of the ACT Government’s ‘shop local’ campaign.

Have our elected representatives just given up on the concept of logic? Have we gotten to such a parlous state of affairs that our democratic system of Government is only capable of producing immature fools that can only think in terms of tv sound bites never mind whether they completely contradict what was said only the day before?

Thank christ I’m going on holiday (AND NOT IN CANBERRA!).

As for this statue, I invoke Bastiat’s principle of ‘what is seen and what is not seen’. What we see is a statue, what we don’t see is the potential provision of necessary aid to the poorest of our society that will never happen.

perhaps a giant (two or three hundred metre high) sculpture of a flame, positioned on Mt Stromlo and leaning menacingly toward Duffy…

frontrow said :

The problem with Canberra’s public art is that it just isn’t big enough.

Hear hear.

And yes, we need monstrously large public art here… here. Preferably something imposing and on top of a hill. Like Skid’s giant hand.

I still want a carved obsidian hand menacing the entire globe on a huge marble platform.
Preferably about the size of City Hill.

If its funded by the ACT and Federal Governments, I would urge them to chisel “Ipsa scientia potestas est” on it, and also use it to house a data centre.

FFS! I’m headin’ down to Lake Tuggalot with my oxy acetalene set tonight…

The problem with Canberra’s public art is that it just isn’t big enough.

I want to see some ludicrously ugly giant statue that will rival that South American Jesus. Something so big that historians will remember the chief fondly as John “Ozymandias” Stanhope.

Another option would be a huge horizontal artwork for the google earth tourists.

There’s also a plaque on it which reads:

“ANGEL WINGS
Phil Price, 2008

Angel Wings is a wind activated kinetic-sculpture.

The sculpture’s ‘wings’ move gracefully in the slightest breeze and are intended to evoke the magical, imagined movement of an angel’s wings.

This is the final in a series of works by New Zealand artist Phil Price that explores the interaction of wind and structure.”

R. Slicker said :

Didn’t you love the comment on the ABC this morning when someone said that the new artwork “would help people make sense of their lives”.

Are you serious? (Make us see that we are worth too much and no one really likes us)

Pommy bastard1:05 pm 19 Dec 08

I’ve always thought the Yamba Drive excreta was a broken clock? You’re telling me it’s a “sculpture?”

Didn’t you love the comment on the ABC this morning when someone said that the new artwork “would help people make sense of their lives”.

How long will it be before Price has more sculptural spawn swinging all over town?

There’s a note on this one saying that its the _final_ Whirligig Man.

Just emailed Jb some photos.

We now have a ‘sister-sculpture’! How long will it be before Price has more sculptural spawn swinging all over town? I’ve got no problem with his work or with the ACT Govt purchasing them, or other large public sculptures for that matter.

I can’t believe that people will protest against wind farms because they don’t like the look, then the mayor can put up a non-functioning wind turbine in the city.

barking toad12:36 pm 19 Dec 08

The mayor has delusions of grandeur and is becoming unhinged as he erects monuments to himself in his last term in office as he attempts to emulate brother kim, dear leader.

Insignificant mayors of bush municipalities should really just concentrate on the basics – roads, rates and rubbish.

Although, in an obscure sense, I guess he has concentrated on the last of the three.

peterh said :

no, blue poles was painted by a 3yo.

Drunks Did It.

peterh, Blue Poles isn’t worth millions of dollars because it will never be for sale. It can only ever be worth its original purchase price. Less of course the cost of keeping securing and restoring which I have heard is anything up to 85 million so far and rising. I’m not going to be sarcastic and say something like “wow what a bargain that purchase turned out to be” ’cause it is a significant painting. I just use it as an example of how people can get carried away with art. Want to make money out of publicly owned works of art? Insure then destroy.

i’ll answer that for you…. No

I agree that blue poles is rubbish, and I agree that we dont need two pieces of phil prices sculpture, but I feel that Phil Price is a creative genius, could your 3yo make Diornus Maximus?

I like blue poles and the whirlygig chicks!

I happen to like Blue Poles, but I hardly think you can compare the Whirlygig Men Statues to it.

the CM’s comment:
“Is it seriously suggested that the National Gallery shouldn’t have purchased Blue Poles because the artist is an American, that’s trite and nonsensical.”

no, blue poles was painted by a 3yo. my daughter turns out similar works for the sake of art. Blue poles is rubbish. expensive, but still rubbish. and a 3yo wants their payment in toys, or lollies. not millions of dollars…

the orange arm swinging thing is a waste of money. to call it art is a bit far fetched.

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