Posts with tag Public Art

At the entrence of the University in Berkeley you find a fantastic artpiece in the pavement called Column of earth and air. Free Speach Monument (1991). It’s a six inch column of land and airspace that is said not being part of any nation, state or city. No laws are applicable within the small space. A ring surrounds the column and has the inscription: “This soil and the airspace extending above it shall not be a part of any nation and shall not be subject to any entity’s jurisdiction.” The work is done by the Californian based visual artist Mark Brest van Kempen, who has done several different public art projects. Over a cup of coffee he tells us that cities in US put of 1-2 percent to art when public spaces are being redone or new spaces are built. It’s very different how this works, in some cities very well, in others not at all. In the book “Art of Engagement. Visual politics in Californa and beyond” by Peter Selz (University of California Press) you can follow public art projects in California.

“There is noone asking for Jörgen Svensson when finishing Art University. Why would they? There was no product to sell. The simple reason was that I hadn’t done anything yet. Art students at University or just finishing have no market, since they usually don’t have a product to sell at that point. When Art Universities work with entrepreneurship, this needs to be taken into account” says the artist Jörgen Svensson.