This is art! Windstone - a trail of cloud

troll-sniffer said :

I hope the motley lot of philistines who poke their minimal cranial appendages into this site are not representative of the city as a whole. Then again public servants, the most self-indulgent smug lot of perfect intellectuals ever to hit the planet, but who for some reason still enjoy league, the moron channels and foxtel, and mindlessly inane chatter about the latest celebs and facebook, comprise a large proportion of the RA readership and contributors, so perhaps it’s of no surprise that the above views are bandied about.

The public servant’s museums wouldn’t have the Mona Lisa, for Leonardo’s patron’s money would have spent on providing temporary shelter for a few homeless Venetians. Their chapels would never have seen Michelangelo’s ceiling, the money that was to be wasted on him would have gone to more brooms to sweep the detritus away from the town hall’s steps. And so on.

Morons.

Who are you talking to?

I hope the motley lot of philistines who poke their minimal cranial appendages into this site are not representative of the city as a whole. Then again public servants, the most self-indulgent smug lot of perfect intellectuals ever to hit the planet, but who for some reason still enjoy league, the moron channels and foxtel, and mindlessly inane chatter about the latest celebs and facebook, comprise a large proportion of the RA readership and contributors, so perhaps it’s of no surprise that the above views are bandied about.

The public servant’s museums wouldn’t have the Mona Lisa, for Leonardo’s patron’s money would have spent on providing temporary shelter for a few homeless Venetians. Their chapels would never have seen Michelangelo’s ceiling, the money that was to be wasted on him would have gone to more brooms to sweep the detritus away from the town hall’s steps. And so on.

Morons.

(They seem to lack the want to perform fundamental tasks around town such as weed control for instance. Just driving around town it’s embarrassing how out of contol the weed population is getting. There are acres of Pattisons Curse, scotch thistles, blackberries and fireweed rampant in our suburbs. One of my workmates lives on a property in Murrumbateman & the Yass shire council will fine them if so much as a dandylion pops it’s head up out of the ground.)

It is certainly not for a lack of wanting to do weed control, but lack of funding. It does not help when ACT weed control budgets are substantially cut, allowing only for high priority weed control (e.g. protecting our high conservation areas). I think you may have confused Fireweed with St John’s Wort, only several Fireweed plants have been recorded in the ACT.

From the report I read it cost $60,000, and was paid for out of the old percent for arts scheme. In that scheme one cent from every dollar spent on capital works went to public art.

The Canberra Times reported that the scheme was finished in 2008, this is just the remaining funds being spent and the fund is nearly exhausted, so people can calm down and enjoy this one!

We’re not Sydney, We’re not Melbourne, but we’re not the back of Bourke either. At $60,000 something nice like this for the city is money well spent.

Can anyone tell me what’s written on the plaque?

To all the people whigning and whining about it being a waste of money – how much did it cost?

caf said :

Yep, now people can get right back to whinging and whining about how “soulless” the city is.

But art Aline doesn’t give a city it’s soul & to be honest some if the art commissioned seems pointless and inappropriate like the metal structure on the GDE. It looks horrible & not the sort of look I want for this city.

I don’t mind the whirlybird things for their novelty factor & nor do I really dislike this one but I do have to wonder about the priorities of this government.

They seem to lack the want to perform fundamental tasks around town such as weed control for instance. Just driving around town it’s embarrassing how out of contol the weed population is getting. There are acres of Pattisons Curse, scotch thistles, blackberries and fireweed rampant in our suburbs. One of my workmates lives on a property in Murrumbateman & the Yass shire council will fine them if so much as a dandylion pops it’s head up out of the ground.

As far as a soul is concerned, I think Canberra has a soul, it’s just not what is considered a soul by Sydney or Melbourns standards but why do we want to be like them? I like Canberra for what it is, not what other cities are.

Exactly why art shouldn’t be funded. Why is a Japanese artist taking work from our own artists here in Canberra? Do we contribute to their cities with Oz art? I’m not saying I support funding for art [I do not to the extreme when it can be better spent], but wasting it overseas is even worse.

The artist – Koichi – is a lovely person, and makes absolutely beautiful sculptures. His work is so well made, and the steel seems to almost disappear when you look at it. Even if you hate art, it’s a really cool effect to see (so please do go see it, and don’t hurt it!).

I wish the public art of the ACT were better curated.. then we could have more Windstones, granite packages and bird-men, and less twisted piles of steel, windmills and scary flat-men.

See now all these positives about this piece (oo ahhh – isn’t it shiny?) reminds me of all the slagging off about Stipa on Gungahlin Drive.

It’s like people that get all gooey over animals that are cute and furry, but have no time or regard for ones that are smelly or ugly.

I have a background in the environment and Landcare and to me Stipa was instantly recognisable as a native grass tussock. But there was the brilliant and cutting artist’s comment through use of the heavy steel beams about the way the mechanisation of the roadway slahes through the native grasslands there (and well all over Canberra) and how the environment comes a very distant second to the needs of our suburbs and of course our slavish dedication to one car per commuter. It was almost like the artist was thumbing their nose at the ACT Roads project, from whence the piece was funded. Do people see the irony of that?

Stipa resonates with me and my value set, in a similar way I guess to how some people are reacting to this new piece.

It’s just that Stipa is in such a bloody stupid location, where it is so critical that people are watching where they are going and their merging, rather than placing it on an open section of road. But that was the ACT Government’s fault – not the artist’s.

Maybe people would have loved it more if it had also been all nice and shiny? It’d be a fun job climbing it to do the polishing…

It’s lovely. Stupid waste of money … but lovely.

I’ll be going to have a look before it gets too trashed

Yep, now people can get right back to whinging and whining about how “soulless” the city is.

Due to all the whinging and whining about the art program, it has been cancelled, and we won’t get any more. Ones like this are the last few that were commissioned before the art program was cancelled.

Another shrine for mully, just what we needed.

Arrrrhhhhhh. For Gods sake, can’t this Government understand that the money really needs to go………………well, where its needed most? What is it with these morons?

And to top it off, this thing looks like crap!

On a brighter note, I have some art he can buy (at a ridiculous price of course) and mount it on a pedestal near his home! Now, what will it be……………….?

colourful sydney racing identity said :

stelita said :

Can I give my share of money in that thing to the homeless people that live in the park? I didn’t think Canberra needed another wind mill.

If you can tell me accurately how much ‘your share’ is, I will personally donate that amount to each homelss person living in the park.

I would welcome you to join me – we can get big novelty cheques printed – it will be great.

Just because your idea of art is the internationally renowned ‘dogs playing poker’ doesn’t mean other art shouldn’t be funded.

Art is great, but I think this is just another example of the Stanhope government being completely out of touch with what the vast majority of ACT tax payers would like their money spent on.

This is F&^*#*. I am told by Stanhopless Government employees, that the lighting in my street is not safe or up to standard and an extra light pole needs to be installed. But because there is no money it can’t be done. Their workaround was to install a brighter light bulb.
Stanhope’s priorities are about himself.

Doomed

i love it!

and heaps of people will get the see it in Glebe Park, as the last tiny bit of green grass near civic.

I wish he’d take my proportion of his generous donation to the football industry and spend it on some more nice eye candy like that.

Yeah, that’ll last!

clever

colourful sydney racing identity said :

lobster said :

I can’t wait to scratch my name into that…

Yes, vandalism is so clever.

Clever like a fox!

lobster said :

I can’t wait to scratch my name into that…

Don’t you dare…

Spray paint it, like everyone else will….

colourful sydney racing identity said :

Just because your idea of art is the internationally renowned ‘dogs playing poker’ doesn’t mean other art shouldn’t be funded.

… and vice versa.

It doesn’t mean it should be funded.

lobster said :

I can’t wait to scratch my name into that…

Yes, vandalism is so clever.

I can’t wait to scratch my name into that…

stelita said :

Can I give my share of money in that thing to the homeless people that live in the park? I didn’t think Canberra needed another wind mill.

If you can tell me accurately how much ‘your share’ is, I will personally donate that amount to each homelss person living in the park.

I would welcome you to join me – we can get big novelty cheques printed – it will be great.

Just because your idea of art is the internationally renowned ‘dogs playing poker’ doesn’t mean other art shouldn’t be funded.

Can I give my share of money in that thing to the homeless people that live in the park? I didn’t think Canberra needed another wind mill.