France gets mechanical animals - Canberra gets tit balloon

Personally, I’m more than a little concerned about the amount of people who can’t see a boob without immediately screaming inanities about porn and sex.

It must be the company you keep, as no one’s been; “screaming inanities about porn and sex”, here.

poetix said :

Skywhale is beautiful; not in a stereotypical way, but in a suggestive, ambiguous way. I pity people who can’t see that beauty. It is interesting that some people continually use words like ‘tit’ while referring to it, as if to deny its gentle expansiveness by the use of short sharp and slightly dismissive words, almost as if to bring it down to earth and a cruder notion of reality. Some others (or sometimes the same people) propose more technologically-based projects as an escape from the dangerously problematic nature of the floating beast. We also have the recent suggestion of an inflatable turd, which must be interesting in psychoanalytic terms.

It is something that I will remember for the rest of my life as a slightly magical manifestation of the possibilities of form, and of the simple power of art to surprise and to provoke wonder. I like to think of Skywhale popping up all over Australia, as if it were a poem of a slightly difficult sort that gives different meanings with each reading.

And, to return to a less demanding game, the Canberra Times spelt Darth Vader as Darth Vadar in their ‘would-be RiotACT’ poll below the article people are linking to containing the reflections of the Governor of Christmas Island. The farce is strong with those ones…

Very nice!

Personally, I’m more than a little concerned about the amount of people who can’t see a boob without immediately screaming inanities about porn and sex.

Skywhale is beautiful; not in a stereotypical way, but in a suggestive, ambiguous way. I pity people who can’t see that beauty. It is interesting that some people continually use words like ‘tit’ while referring to it, as if to deny its gentle expansiveness by the use of short sharp and slightly dismissive words, almost as if to bring it down to earth and a cruder notion of reality. Some others (or sometimes the same people) propose more technologically-based projects as an escape from the dangerously problematic nature of the floating beast. We also have the recent suggestion of an inflatable turd, which must be interesting in psychoanalytic terms.

It is something that I will remember for the rest of my life as a slightly magical manifestation of the possibilities of form, and of the simple power of art to surprise and to provoke wonder. I like to think of Skywhale popping up all over Australia, as if it were a poem of a slightly difficult sort that gives different meanings with each reading.

And, to return to a less demanding game, the Canberra Times spelt Darth Vader as Darth Vadar in their ‘would-be RiotACT’ poll below the article people are linking to containing the reflections of the Governor of Christmas Island. The farce is strong with those ones…

johnboy said :

Stanhop’s just jealous he put a giant phallus on Benjamin Way and the world paid it no mind.

I still think it should be called “The Stanhope”

Ben_Dover said :

For once I agree with Stan. “Skywhale arrogant, self-indulgent.” Stanhope.

What a feast! – the dizzying degrees of irony, the stunning bewilderment – it just goes on. It may simply be that the view from St.Helena has added an overdue dose of common sense to the view. However, I think there may be a little more to it than that – joining the dots…..Katy (post election) “I am my own person”, the ACTEW jihad and now this spray. The old order changeth, with more to come, I reckon.

The most telling phrase in that article is “in the regions” – says it all about the stereotypic Canberra mentality.

c_c™ said :

We may not agree with Stanhope’s choices re: public art in the past. But it’s fair to say he never considered a gimmick, but rather, an investment.

So it’s not surprising that he’s speaking out against Sky Whale, it’s a gimmick, not an investment, and ill thought gimmick at that.

And when you’ve got Stanhope calling you out for being wrong, gosh you must have really screwed up.

Please name two successful investment decisions Stanhope made while he was Chief Minister.

Ben_Dover said :

For once I agree with Stan. “Skywhale arrogant, self-indulgent.” Stanhope.

Stanhope is simply “covering his arse” as he was the person who appointed Robyn Archer to run the Centenary celebrations.
He should have done some more research into Archer’s past. If he did he would have realized that she is an “in your face” sort of person. Some of her CD recordings are bawdy to say the least. There was an presenter on ABC 666 about 15 years ago that used to regularly play Archer’s offerings; a lot of listeners complained. That presenter left the ABC shortly after.
The images of this floating mutated whale sculpture has damaged Canberra for a few years to come and Stanhope should share some responsibility for it.
He is not known to be contrite for bad decisions he has made so he has chosen attack as the best means of defence on this issue.

We may not agree with Stanhope’s choices re: public art in the past. But it’s fair to say he never considered a gimmick, but rather, an investment.

So it’s not surprising that he’s speaking out against Sky Whale, it’s a gimmick, not an investment, and ill thought gimmick at that.

And when you’ve got Stanhope calling you out for being wrong, gosh you must have really screwed up.

For once I agree with Stan. “Skywhale arrogant, self-indulgent.” Stanhope.

To think what we could’ve had…

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/futuretense/airships/4701088

mezza76 said :

Ben_Dover said :

mezza76 said :

You see art is opnion…and debate. It’s not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ proposition. YOU might think it’s worth nothing.

I’ve never claimed anything else.

mezza76 said :

So feel good about the fact that your rage probably makes the art more valuable (in a monetary and historical sense)

Ah playing the man not the ball… .

Indeed.

mezza76 said :

Ben_Dover said :

The skywhale is a transient piece of nonsense with no bearing and relevance to Canberra or its centenary, it was a great waste of public money.

I speak for no one but myself, I am only an arbiter of my own taste.

In your opinion…

You see art is opnion…and debate. It’s not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ proposition. YOU might think it’s worth nothing. But to others it’s worth a lot.

This debate has been going on in this town for nearly 50 years (and probably the wider artistic merit debate for centuries).

Im not going to bother to try and change your mind. But I’ll simply point out this article on Pollocks Blue Poles.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-28/stroke-of-genius-the-legacy-of-blue-poles/4228672

So that waste of money by Whitlam ended up now having a value of $20m to $100m. Although the ‘value’ is more than monetary value. As a historical art piece it’s now a part of modern Australian history.

Whether Skywhale will be in that category? Who knows. But the debate in itself has probably made it more valuable/interesting than something that might have appeased the outraged people who throught it was a waste of money. So feel good about the fact that your rage probably makes the art more valuable (in a monetary and historical sense).

I agree.
They should have paid a local artist to design a 30m baloon shaped like faeces. It would have created an enormous amount of debate which would surely have the Skyturd valued in the billions with all the rage it would have created.

Somehow I don’t think Skywhale is in anyway comparable with something like Blue Poles because a) we don’t own it and b) Skywhale only has a total life of 100 flights or so.

Ben_Dover said :

mezza76 said :

You see art is opnion…and debate. It’s not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ proposition. YOU might think it’s worth nothing.

I’ve never claimed anything else.

mezza76 said :

So feel good about the fact that your rage probably makes the art more valuable (in a monetary and historical sense).

Oh I do get quite bored by this sort of tomfoolery. Why do the limp wristed wets on the left* always accuse others of “rage” or “anger” for expressing our opinions? It really is rather tiresome. For that matter why do they always seem so fearful of anyone expressing strong emotions about anything? (not that I was) I thought the namby-pamby bed wetters were keen on emotional expression. Not when it’s not them doing it, it would seem.

* he started it.

Ah playing the man not the ball… because you lost that argument. And you’re not much better at reading either. I just made the point that different opinion and debate is a good thing…and you kinda went downhill from there.

Here’s the number for 2GB: 131 873. Alan Jones is on between the hours of 5am-9am, Monday to Friday.

mezza76 said :

You see art is opnion…and debate. It’s not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ proposition. YOU might think it’s worth nothing.

I’ve never claimed anything else.

mezza76 said :

So feel good about the fact that your rage probably makes the art more valuable (in a monetary and historical sense).

Oh I do get quite bored by this sort of tomfoolery. Why do the limp wristed wets on the left* always accuse others of “rage” or “anger” for expressing our opinions? It really is rather tiresome. For that matter why do they always seem so fearful of anyone expressing strong emotions about anything? (not that I was) I thought the namby-pamby bed wetters were keen on emotional expression. Not when it’s not them doing it, it would seem.

* he started it.

Ben_Dover said :

The skywhale is a transient piece of nonsense with no bearing and relevance to Canberra or its centenary, it was a great waste of public money.

I speak for no one but myself, I am only an arbiter of my own taste.

In your opinion…

You see art is opnion…and debate. It’s not a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ proposition. YOU might think it’s worth nothing. But to others it’s worth a lot.

This debate has been going on in this town for nearly 50 years (and probably the wider artistic merit debate for centuries).

Im not going to bother to try and change your mind. But I’ll simply point out this article on Pollocks Blue Poles.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-28/stroke-of-genius-the-legacy-of-blue-poles/4228672

So that waste of money by Whitlam ended up now having a value of $20m to $100m. Although the ‘value’ is more than monetary value. As a historical art piece it’s now a part of modern Australian history.

Whether Skywhale will be in that category? Who knows. But the debate in itself has probably made it more valuable/interesting than something that might have appeased the outraged people who throught it was a waste of money. So feel good about the fact that your rage probably makes the art more valuable (in a monetary and historical sense).

Might be worth mentioning that there is a fair bit going on across the Centenary Arts program beyond the Skywhale. This project sounds interesting (and has a Canberra artist & links):

“The Centenary Science Art Commission presents a unique opportunity for an artist from the Canberra region to work in residence within a nominated science institution to develop new work for exhibition for the Centenary of Canberra.

The commissioning of this new work will help to draw attention to the great strengths of Canberra in the field of science and some of the interesting ways that Canberra artists are working with scientists and innovative technologies to produce new works.

Eleanor Gates-Stuart has been awarded the Centenary Science Art Commission and she will take up this challenge in residence at the CSIRO through their Transformational Biology Capability Platform (TBCP). She will be based at the CSIRO Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics (CMIS) Research Division supported by the specialist expertise of Dr David Lovell, Bioinformatics and Analytics Leader, and Dr Matthew Morell, Theme Leader, CSIRO Food Futures Flagship.

Eleanor’s concept for StellrScopE is to explore and build on the story connecting the Canberra region to Australia’s major crop, wheat, from the times of William Farrer through to the modern era. StellrScopE will focus on the physical and biochemical traits of organisms in physical plant structures, simplifying complex visualisation data and images to construct a digital video.

This project will result in a series of scientific art works for exhibition at Questacon in August 2013, during the celebration of 25 years of Questacon.

An exhibition documenting the StellrScopE residency will be presented at the CSIRO Discovery Centre including a series of digital artworks.

You can explore the development of Eleanor’s work by keeping an eye on the StellrScope website at http://www.stellrscope.com “

astrojax said :

i disagree – there was a celebration by the people of canberra, by the lake on canberra day (appropriate, no?)

Which we have every year.

astrojax said :

as for a missed opportunity, what would you suggest we do to recitfy this (there are still seven months + to go, perhaps you could petition the legislative assembly..?)

Too late I think, everything been booked and billed.

astrojax said :

the skywhale is a commissioned piece of work from an artist of some international standing and shows what a relevant, contemporary artist with such links is doing now, at the point of the centenary. what’s the problem with that? oh, you, arbiter of public tatse, don’t like it?

The skywhale is a transient piece of nonsense with no bearing and relevance to Canberra or its centenary, it was a great waste of public money.

I speak for no one but myself, I am only an arbiter of my own taste.

Tetranitrate said :

Frankly, I would have liked to have seen $300K go to emerging Canberran artists with a brief of making something with relevance to Canberra.

As apart from lavishing money on an already established, internationally at that, artist such as Piccinini.

50 artists at six grand a pop? Could have led to some interesting pieces.

And I kind of like the huge multi-breasted boob parrot.

This is actually the best point anybody has made regarding the whole skywhale saga.

Having both the skywhale and the 50 up-and-coming local artists would have had the best of both worlds

Ben_Dover said :

chewy14 said :

I think this is part of the problem. Surely art being commissioned for the Centenary should have been more accessible and representative of the general community.

The problem is really letting arty-farty types organise the centenary “celebration”.

The problem is not having an “event” to mark the centenary, but a random collection of “happenings” which will only be attractive to a small minority of the population.

The problem is wasting $300,000 on something totally irrelevant, which has no lasting value, and makes us look a laughing stock.

The problems is the idea that making the city and territory seem full of wasteful hipsters, somehow is of promotional value.

The problem is that Canberra’s centenary, co-opted sporting events, which should have happened here anyway, and used them to pretend we were having something unique.

The problem is that the Centenary will not be marked by a celebration by the people of the city.

The problem is that the Centenary, once over, will quickly be consigned to the dustbin of history and remembered as a missed opportunity.

I could go on…..

.

i disagree – there was a celebration by the people of canberra, by the lake on canberra day (appropriate, no?)

as for a missed opportunity, what would you suggest we do to recitfy this (there are still seven months + to go, perhaps you could petition the legislative assembly..?)

the skywhale is a commissioned piece of work from an artist of some international standing and shows what a relevant, contemporary artist with such links is doing now, at the point of the centenary. what’s the problem with that? oh, you, arbiter of public tatse, don’t like it?

but do go on…

Ben_Dover said :

chewy14 said :

I think this is part of the problem. Surely art being commissioned for the Centenary should have been more accessible and representative of the general community.

The problem is really letting arty-farty types organise the centenary “celebration”.

The problem is not having an “event” to mark the centenary, but a random collection of “happenings” which will only be attractive to a small minority of the population.

The problem is wasting $300,000 on something totally irrelevant, which has no lasting value, and makes us look a laughing stock.

The problems is the idea that making the city and territory seem full of wasteful hipsters, somehow is of promotional value.

The problem is that Canberra’s centenary, co-opted sporting events, which should have happened here anyway, and used them to pretend we were having something unique.

The problem is that the Centenary will not be marked by a celebration by the people of the city.

The problem is that the Centenary, once over, will quickly be consigned to the dustbin of history and remembered as a missed opportunity.

I could go on…..

.

This pretty much sums it up for me, both posts. It seems ACT gov has a habit of missing the mark, it’s just getting more expensive.

Frankly, I would have liked to have seen $300K go to emerging Canberran artists with a brief of making something with relevance to Canberra.

As apart from lavishing money on an already established, internationally at that, artist such as Piccinini.

50 artists at six grand a pop? Could have led to some interesting pieces.

And I kind of like the huge multi-breasted boob parrot.

This is actually the best point anybody has made regarding the whole skywhale saga.

Barcham said :

HiddenDragon said :

Some of us read stories like this:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/homeless-hit-hard-by-cuts-to-subsidies-20130516-2jpoz.html

assume that they are essentially true (allowing for the usual deflecting “clarifications” from unnamed spokespersonages) and think that while brilliant wonderful things are nice, perhaps there are more pressing priorities in this town.

So are you saying the government shouldn’t support the arts at all?

Our elected and unelected officials can answer to their own consciences, but for my part, I make real sacrifices in order to give worthwhile annual donations from my modest (very modest, by Canberra standards) income to charities which help the homeless and other people in serious need.

A Government which wanted to maintain some support for the arts, while maintaining, even if not increasing, funding for organisations such as those referred to in the CT article, could perhaps look to some aspects of their administrative and discretionary spending to see whether everything they are currently doing and planning to do is really necessary, and is truly a higher priority than those we are discussing.

Those mechanical animals wouldn’t last long in Canberra. Skywhale flies free and above the vandals that infest our fair territory.

These French creations wouldn’t look out of place at Mt Rushmore Arboretum.
They would compliment the stylised eagle crafted out of scrap iron.

Barcham said :

After all, the Skywhale didn’t take money from schools, or hospitals, or roads. It took money from the arts. It could have gone to another artist.

There is no hypothecated tax for art so it did take money from schools, or hospitals, or roads.

poetix said :

I find it pathetic how some people think that authentic and challenging art must be found elsewhere than in Canberra. The French park may be fun, but why hold it up as some model for Canberra?

I have no objection to “authentic and challenging art.” I do object to paying for it without any say in the matter.

pajs said :

I can imagine the French being quite keen on the skywhale, whimsy and all.

So let’s sell it to them. Either that or do a Hindenburg on it – now that would look good at Skyfire!

pajs said :

I can imagine the French being quite keen on the skywhale, whimsy and all.

We’ll swap it for a few mechanical animals, then..

Dilandach said :

Ugh I’ll be happy when there is no mention of the ‘skywhale’. Really really sick of hearing about it.

Why would you participate in a thread about skywhales if you are really really sick of hearing about it?

I can imagine the French being quite keen on the skywhale, whimsy and all.

Frankly, I would have liked to have seen $300K go to emerging Canberran artists with a brief of making something with relevance to Canberra.

As apart from lavishing money on an already established, internationally at that, artist such as Piccinini.

50 artists at six grand a pop? Could have led to some interesting pieces.

And I kind of like the huge multi-breasted boob parrot.

The powers that be in Canberra are not interested in Canberra artists unless they have made their name elsewhere.

chewy14 said :

I think this is part of the problem. Surely art being commissioned for the Centenary should have been more accessible and representative of the general community.

The problem is really letting arty-farty types organise the centenary “celebration”.

The problem is not having an “event” to mark the centenary, but a random collection of “happenings” which will only be attractive to a small minority of the population.

The problem is wasting $300,000 on something totally irrelevant, which has no lasting value, and makes us look a laughing stock.

The problems is the idea that making the city and territory seem full of wasteful hipsters, somehow is of promotional value.

The problem is that Canberra’s centenary, co-opted sporting events, which should have happened here anyway, and used them to pretend we were having something unique.

The problem is that the Centenary will not be marked by a celebration by the people of the city.

The problem is that the Centenary, once over, will quickly be consigned to the dustbin of history and remembered as a missed opportunity.

I could go on…..

.

Barcham said :

However all the artists I know think the Skywhale is brilliant.

I think this is part of the problem. Surely art being commissioned for the Centenary should have been more accessible and representative of the general community.

Skywhale seems to be aimed directly at the artistic community so they can pat each other on the back about how trendy and unique it (and they) are.

Ugh I’ll be happy when there is no mention of the ‘skywhale’. Really really sick of hearing about it.

HiddenDragon said :

Some of us read stories like this:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/homeless-hit-hard-by-cuts-to-subsidies-20130516-2jpoz.html

assume that they are essentially true (allowing for the usual deflecting “clarifications” from unnamed spokespersonages) and think that while brilliant wonderful things are nice, perhaps there are more pressing priorities in this town.

So are you saying the government shouldn’t support the arts at all?

And I kind of like the huge multi-breasted boob parrot.

Me too. I stopped by to see it on the weekend. For pure sex appeal there is nothing quite like it. Hundreds of people watching and getting their photo taken with it. Cars stopping in middle of the road.

Say what you will on the significance of it – it’s a stunning display, that literally stops traffic and is a great conversation piece. The free media benefits now make it a huge success.

You mean we could have had a ride-on squid? That would have been far more representative!

Can someone commission me to build animatronic parliamentarians that people can ride for $10 a pop? Joe Hockey would come in both his new svelte solo model and his previous family size.

Some of us read stories like this:

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/homeless-hit-hard-by-cuts-to-subsidies-20130516-2jpoz.html

assume that they are essentially true (allowing for the usual deflecting “clarifications” from unnamed spokespersonages) and think that while brilliant wonderful things are nice, perhaps there are more pressing priorities in this town.

poetix said :

All art should be presented on black velvet, and confined to three subjects: Elvis, swagmen and cute kiddies. A friend of mine drew Elvis and a swagman talking to a cute kiddie, but that’s too radical for me.

I find it pathetic how some people think that authentic and challenging art must be found elsewhere than in Canberra. As to Skywhale, some people just can’t deal with wings of breasts and categories being challenged.

Don’t forget dogs playing poker

All art should be presented on black velvet, and confined to three subjects: Elvis, swagmen and cute kiddies. A friend of mine drew Elvis and a swagman talking to a cute kiddie, but that’s too radical for me.

I find it pathetic how some people think that authentic and challenging art must be found elsewhere than in Canberra. The French park may be fun, but why hold it up as some model for Canberra?

As to Skywhale, some people just can’t deal with wings of breasts and categories being challenged. It’s a deeply ambiguous object, and quite lovely.

The point of arts funding is not to “buy” art for Canberra. It’s to encourage art in Canberra, it’s to create culture, it’s to fill Canberra with brilliant wonderful things.

A great many artists receive arts funding from the government every year and they keep what they create. Why would Piccinini’s work be any different?

What I find odd is how people seem to think they coughed up extra to pay for this. You did not. You paid the same taxes you would have if the Skywhale did not exist. This was taken from a budget that was designed to go towards art.

If anyone can complain about the cost, it should be other artists. After all, the Skywhale didn’t take money from schools, or hospitals, or roads. It took money from the arts. It could have gone to another artist.

However all the artists I know think the Skywhale is brilliant.

Like Canberra, the Skywhale is a wonderful thing that is sadly mocked by people who don’t and won’t even try to see the beauty in her, and I for one feel that makes her the perfect mascot to our fair city.

So you want your art to be derivative, vastly more expensive, and imitating life?

Surely the question is not one of do we get a skywhale or an animatronic elephant?