The Fourth Plinth is home to specially commissioned art works; an ongoing, ever-changing series of public art pieces.

On July 19th, 2010, the shortlist of artists for the next commission was unveiled. From the following: artists Allora & Calzadilla, Elmgreen & Dragset, Katharina Fritsch, Brian Griffiths, Hew Locke and Mariele Neudecker, who shall be the chosen one(s) to create the next spectacle to be housed on the Fourth Plinth?

August 19th, 2010, the artists’ proposals will be unveiled to the public at an exhibition in the crypt of St Martin in the Fields, a cafe in a landmarked church crypt just off side Trafalgar Square.

So, what exactly is the fourth plinth anyways? It sounds like a dimension to another realm, or an obscurely titled Margaret Atwood novel.

One of four platforms in Trafalgar Square, central London, the Fourth Plinth, rests in the northwest. Its three concrete siblings are home to bronze statues in the form of General Sir Charles James Napier, on the plinth in the southwest of the square, Major General Sir Henry Havelock, on the southeast plinth, and King George IV on the northeast plinth.

The Fourth Plinth is the fourth concrete platform built in 1841, which was left lonely and bare due to insufficient funding, with no bronze General to adorn it.

It is now a sought after local for well-known international artists to display their work. The Fourth Plinth Program is funded by the Mayor of London and Arts Council England and has been described as, “one of the most high-profile public art commissions in the UK and has established a strong international reputation,” as quoted by Ekow Eshun, Chair of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, in an article written on www.london.gov.uk.

Previously on the Fourth Plinth:

In 2005 the Fourth Plinth displayed Marc Quinn’s: “Alison Lapper Pregnant”, a 3.6-metre tall, 13-ton statue of Alison Lapper, made of marble. Lapper was born in the UK in 1965 with no arms and shortened legs, due to a condition called phocomelia. She is an artist currently living in the UK. This piece, along with Alison’s vision for her own artwork, challenges social norms and attitudes surrounding perceptions of both disability, and disability & motherhood.

In 2007, Thomas Schutte’s “Model for a Hotel” was featured. Made from coloured stain glass, this piece was an architectural model of a 21 storey building. It measured 5-metres by 4.5-metres by 5-metres and cost £270,000 to produce. The project was funded primarily by the Mayor of London and the Arts council of England.

Anthony Gormley’s “One & Other”, was a unique display of human art. For one hundred days a different person occupied the Fourth Plinth for an hour, totaling 2,400 members of the public. Within the time span of their chosen hour they could do anything on the Fourth Plinth that they liked, and could bring with them anything that they wanted, that could be carried up there themselves, unaided. Through this exhibit, Anthony Gormley wished to display the realism of our human lives, juxtaposed against the artistic representation of military, valedictory and male historical statues overwhelming Trafalgar Square. More than one handful of people decided to spend their hour on the plinth entirely naked.

Currently, The Fourth Plinth is home to “Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle”, by Anglo-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare MBE, which was unveiled in Trafalgar Square on May 24th, 2010. This work is significant in that it is the first in the Fourth Plinth Program to reflect on the Battle of Trafalgar, which is the historic representation and remembrance of the square itself. Shonibare said to www.london.gov.uk,

 “For me it’s a celebration of London’s immense ethnic wealth, giving expression to and honouring the many cultures and ethnicities that are still breathing precious wind into the sails of the United Kingdom.”

The ship has 37 large sails that are fabricated of detailed textiles made to represent African culture; dress, identity and independence and is the largest recorded ship in a bottle in the world, measuring 2.8-metres by 4.7-metres.

The Fourth Plinth Program has not only represented a location to honour contemporary artists and artwork, it has begun an integral dialogue between the general public and the seemingly elusive world of art and architecture, opening the average schmuck’s mind to what constitutes art and why it is important.

The public will have an opportunity to comment on the new shortlisted artists’ proposals for the next piece to follow Shonibare’s “Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle” beginning August 19th, 2010.

As quoted from www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/,

“A key element of the Fourth Plinth Programme is to involve people in the debate about public art. The public will have the opportunity to comment on the shortlisted proposals on cards at the exhibition and via the website following the unveiling of the proposals.”

The Newest art to occupy the Fourth Plinth will be chosen early 2011 to be unveiled after “Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle” is taken down at the end of 2011. The Mayor of London will announce the new artist(s) early 2011.

For updates on the Fourth Plinth and the newest artist to occupy it, and if you are interested in learning more about the public art world of design and manufacturing, visit www.heavyworld.com.

This is the case, literally and figuratively, for many of his greatest works, including “Cloud Gate”, “Sky Mirror”, and one of the very newest additions to Kapoor’s array of prominent, public artwork, “Turning the World Upside Down, Jerusalem”.

This significant sculpture was commissioned for the inauguration of the new and improved Israel Museum. Following five years and $100 million, the 45 year old museum opened its doors, Sunday, August 1st.

The hour-glass sculpture, crafted from stainless steel, stands 5-meters-tall, at the highest point of the museum’s campus, Crown Plaza.

To personify the sculpture, one may say it stands reverently, as it proudly displays the Jerusalem skyline … upside down!

Kapoor, himself, told the Calcutta Telegraph, “Jerusalem is all about a very special relationship between the ground and the sky. This work attempts to bring the two together.” Very suitable for the city whose reputation is established as one of eminent dichotomy between “celestial and earthly,” as noted by Ethan Bronner in the New York Times.

Isn’t this true to form for the artist, dubbed the king of duality, dabbling with illusion and spirituality through dark/light, feminine/masculine, and land/sky parallels?

With similar characteristics is “Sky Mirror”, which was unveiled at the Nottingham Playhouse, Wellington Circus, Nottingham, in April 2001. This six-meter wide, concave dish was six years in the making, and weighs ten tons. It is also made of polished stainless steel¸ and is positioned upwards towards the sky, so as to reflect the sky’s many temperamental faces.

A second “Sky Mirror” was unveiled in 2006 at Rockefeller Center in New York City, and was displayed September 19th – October 27th, 2006. This larger version measured 10.6 meters in diameter and weighed 23 tons. Sitting at the base of the Rockefeller Center, the giant mirror reflected an inverted view of the historic, foreboding building.

After having reviewed the work of 30 different artists, the Millennium Park officials asked two artists to submit proposals, Kapoor and Pennsylvania born, Jeff Koons. Kapoor’s design was chosen and the erection of “Cloud Gate” began.

“Cloud Gate”, is Kapoor’s first public outdoor work in the United States, and one of his most prominent pieces. It resides in the center of the AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois. Resembling a giant kidney bean, that looks to be made of liquid mercury, it distorts the skyline in its rounded, stainless steel facade. Onlookers can walk underneath and around and enjoy their twisted reflections. Its name suggests a place that connects the onlooker and the sky.

“Cloud Gate” was built between 2004 and 2006, and is made up of 168 stainless-steel plates that are seamlessly welded together. It measures 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet, and weighs 110 tons. Its under-belly is rounded out, creating a space for onlookers to enter, and see multiple images of themselves reflected back and forth. It proved to be quite a challenge to build, with technologic concerns about the design and assembly.

Its initial unveiling took place for the Millennium Park’s grand opening in 2004, but it was then concealed to be completed properly. It was formerly exposed May 15th, 2006 in complete form. Two years late, and almost four times over-budget, initially proposed cost of $6 million, final price tag of $23 million, but a great piece of work that engages the Chicago skyline, and the onlookers.

Art and architecture aficionados can look forward to the “AcelorMittal Orbit”, featured on the skinny, April 14th, 2010. Designed by Kapoor and Cecil Balmond, for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the giant steel structure will be the largest piece of public art in Britain, measuring 115 meters tall, using an estimated 1,400 tons of steel and carrying a heavy price tag of £19.1m.

It is named the “AcelorMittal Orbit”, after the multi-billion dollar steel guru and head sponsor, Lakshmi Mittal and the designers’ original title, “Orbit”. This sculpture is a prime example of the marriage between art and architecture. It will be just as much a structural engineering feat as it is a design feat. The “AcelorMittal Orbit” has a mythical air about it, as it winds in and up upon itself in a series of spiraling, twisting beams stacked to create a stair-case-like tower to the heavens. It will stand taller than the Statue of Liberty and Big Ben.

Kapoor continues to awe and inspire with his unique style! Use of space and surface, suggestive subtleties in form, size and beauty enslaves the eye. His work has a timeless air about it. The messages about reflection and spirituality, as well as dualities, are applicable and relevant over time.

Kapoor is represented at the Lisson Gallery, London and the Gladstone Gallery, New York. His work can be found worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, and the Guggenheim in Bilbao.

Kapoor was born in Bombay to an Indian father and Jewish mother, who emigrated from Baghdad. He moved to London, England in 1970 to attend the Hornsey College of Art followed by study at the Chelsea School of Art and Design, and he still resides and works in London to this day!

Interested in learning more about the public art world of design and manufacturing?

Visit www.heavyworld.com

]]> http://heavyworld.com/theskinny/?feed=rss2&p=1273 0 http://heavyworld.com/theskinny/?p=1247 http://heavyworld.com/theskinny/?p=1247#comments Sat, 10 Jul 2010 16:12:44 +0000 Kenneth http://heavyworld.com/theskinny/?p=1247 Jaume Plensa, Dennis Oppenheim, Michel Goulet and more…

Biennale, Biennial, Bi-annual: They all commonly refer to “every other year”. Beyond the direct connotation lies a much more culturally enhanced tradition, seeded deeply in the development of awareness and appreciation of art.
A Biennale is an art exhibit that happens every two years, bringing together international, contemporary works.
Venice, Italy has one! It started in 1895…
Paris, France has one! It started in 1959…
And now … Vancouver, Canada is home to the Vancouver Biennale, Canada’s first bi-annual public art exhibit. The Vancouver Biennale features sculptures, new media and performance works by international artists, in parks, on beaches and in plazas, turning Vancouver into one giant open air museum.

“Open Spaces” 2005-2006 marked the inauguration of the Biennale, and the 2009-2011 exhibition titled “in-TRANSIT-ion” takes the theme a step further. Strategically placing art near bike paths, train stations, and other high traffic areas, helps to symbolize the movement of people in our society and the ever-changing attitudes and awareness of art.

When Barrie Mowatt, Founder and President of Vancouver Biennale, birthed the idea, it was out of an urge to evolve Vancouver’s profile and “Put Vancouver on the map as a cultural center,” as he puts it himself! “Vancouver had no real identity as a city. We are really an outdoor city so it seemed natural,” he explains.
This appears to be happening as planned when one looks at the list of international artists that are being featured “in-TRANSIT-ion”, including works ranging from Jaume Plensa, Barcelona born, and internationally renowned contemporary artist, to Michel Goulet of Quebec, and Dennis Oppenheim of New York, among many others.

Plensa’s sculpture, “We, 2008”, is situated on Sunset Beach. It is a 16 foot tall, painted stainless steel structure made up of characters from eight international alphabets, strung together to form a human body. It is representative of linguistic diversity. Some of Plensa’s most notable work includes “Crown Fountain” at Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois, “Blake in Gateshead”, in North East England, and a more recent work titled “Dream” in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Plensa’s work is now on Canadian soil, with more pieces to come, as Calgary will reportedly be home to a Plensa sculpture being designed to live at the foot of The Bow, Encana Corporation’s new headquarters. For more info on Jaume Plensa search Jaume Plensa on the skinny.

Work by Dennis Oppenheim is also featured in the Biennale. “Engagement” made of painted aluminum, steel and glass, is located on Sunset Beach. The piece consists of two rings over-exaggerated in size and precariously placed to appear as though they are balancing away from one another, with houses rather than diamonds on top, that light up in the night. Oppenheim encourages the onlooker to consider the delicate balance in a relationship, as well as the illusions present in the institute of marriage. Oppenheim lives and works in New York City. He has been included in the Venice Biennale and the Johannesburg Biennale.

Canadian artist Michel Goulet is also featured in the Biennale. The Quebec-based artist has become known for his use of chairs. “Echoes” is made up of a series of stainless steel chairs, made to look like common kitchen or café chairs; each inscribed with a poetic expression, phrase or thought to ponder, in either the French or English language. They can be found at Kitsilano Beach Park at Watermark. The “Echoes” piece was the first permanent installation resulting from the biennale, acquired by the Vancouver Biennale Legacy Foundation in 2007.

With all great endeavours come controversy and the Vancouver Biennale has faced some. This leads one to question, has our young, and arguably juvenile Canadian culture acquired a taste mature enough to truly appreciate the manifestation of such an expressive tradition, similar to truly enjoying a bottle of Burgundy Pinot Noir, out of a perfect growing season.
The “Minotaur and Hare” by English artist, Sophie Ryder was vandalized on two separate occasions, on the second occasion the hare went missing! Oppenheim’s “Device to Root Out Evil”, un upside down church standing on its steeple, was occupying Harbour Green Park, until the controversy regarding the piece became too hot to handle and Vancouver Public Parks Committee voted to have it removed, only to be acquired by Calgary’s Glenbow’s Museum.

“There is no doubt this is a real loss that will hopefully stimulate reflection and review. But Vancouver’s loss is a big win for Calgary, for Glenbow and for the artist to be recognized in another Canadian city,” said John Bromley, vice-president of the Benefic Group, in an article written by CBC News.
Despite the controversy…. hats off to Mowatt for taking the leap into un-chartered territory, bringing culture and creativity to Vancouver! This bodes well not only for Vancouver, but Canada as a whole, showing initiative that we thirst for cultural growth and experience. The intention of the Biennale is one of education, engagement and interaction, pushing people to the next level of artistic appreciation.
Looking forward Mowatt shares that the vision is now to, “take [the Biennale] to the level where it would be an international focal point,” continuing to garner interest from contemporary artists, world-wide.
Interested in learning more about the public art world of design and manufacturing? Visit www.heavyworld.com

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel and “Integrated Resorts” in Singapore opened its doors to the public on April 27th and cut the ribbon its new “art path” the following day. The art path is actually a series of seven pieces of large-scale artwork handpicked by the hotel and resort’s architect, Moshe Safdie. Each of the pieces was selected for its connection to nature and more specifically the elements which the architect wanted to highlight in order to bring awareness to the way that the resort itself is closely connected to the natural world. These pieces are among the few instances of art that are situated on the property, but with the value of the art coming in somewhere between $40 and $50 million the investment is anything but minimal. Aside from art being important to the architect, the sculptures are, part of the plan enacted by the Singapore government to integrate public art into Singapore’s more metropolitan locations.

Safdie perused applications from almost 30 different artists before settling on the five whose works were ultimately selected for display at the Marina Bay Sands. Safdie, 71, insisted on working closely with the artists, from the conceptualization and design stage, all the way through to the final creation of the work. Each of the works represents, is inspired by or somehow integrates one of the natural elements, creating a visual play on the environmental influences that helped inform the design of the hotel, thereby creating a dynamic and fluid integration between the art, the architecture and the environment.

Antony Gormley, whose “Event Horizon” we recently covered for this blog, has contributed one of the most impressive pieces. So enormous that it had to be constructed off-site, broken down into eight “slices” and transported by special container his work “Drift” is a steel drawing in the air, hanging from the ceiling into an atrium. It’s negative space is what is most compelling. “Drift is a symbolic presence in the way humans actually use the space,” said Mr Gormley.

“Raining Forest” by Zheng Chongbin occupies 4,000 square meters in the hotel atrium.  It is a collection of 83 tremendous glazed ceramic vessels.  Due to the massive size of each of the vessels, the artist actually needed to build a customized kiln with a specially designed rotation in order to ensure that each of the vessels was properly fired. Each of the vessels contains a single tree.

Moving from fire to water are two pieces by artist Ned Kahn.  The first is located at the intersection of the retail mall and the waterfront promenade.  The acrlyic and glass “Oculous” captures rainwater and channels it into a swirling, spiral pattern. The artist said his intention was to create a space where people can contemplate water, their relationship to the element and how vital it is to our lives.

“Tipping Wall” has a similar effect, with thousands of small channels affixed to the wall, directing and redirecting the flow of rainwater as it travels down a black wall of concrete.

Ned Kahn’s additional work “Wind Arbor”, as its title suggests, is manipulated and shaped by the wind.  260,000 metal “flappers” run along the exterior of the hotel’s atrium and move and flap in time with the breeze creating unique visual patterns.

The hotel’s lobby features wall drawings by Sol LeWitt. These wall drawings are impressive because they are a part of a body of work wherein the artist redefined traditional concepts and convincingly stated that the idea “was” the actual artwork and that someone other than the artist could execute that idea and it would still be the artist’s work.

Wall drawings all over the world painstakingly follow Mr. LeWitt’s directions and a drawing can be executed many times though it can never deviate from the original size color or design.

James Carpenter’s “Blue Reflection Facade” is an artwork consisting of glass and metal fins that follow the serpentine quality of the facade. As visitors pass by they experience visual layering that accentuates the sky while shimmering and constantly changing.

The hotel’s energy is soothing, muted and elegant and the selected art pieces manage to further infuse the space with a feeling of calm and seclusion while still remaining wholly connected to the elements.  One hopes that this new interest in  incorporating large scale art of high quality in commercial and centralized spaces across the world is more than just a passing trend.

Working with Marlene through our discovery phase we explored multiple design options for cost savings and eventually concluded the best opportunity for efficiencies would be to create just one tree and mold and cast multiple copies of it. While this would achieve the most cost savings for our client, the major problem with the multiples idea was that we didn’t want every tree to look exactly the same. To overcome this shortfall we designed every main branch as a separate item that could be configured differently around the trunks of the trees; the result was the cost savings of producing multiples while making every tree unique.

With our execution plan in place, Marlene set to work on sculpting a maquette and our industrial designers began modeling the fastening mechanisms for mounting the bas-relief trees to the walls as well as the system that would be cast in place in the trunks and the branches so that they could be assembled.

Marlene’s task of sculpting the maquette was extremely challenging; not only did she have to create an aesthetically pleasing bas-relief tree, but she had to ensure that it would look good with a variety of branch configurations. Marlene needed to measure the size of each branch to ensure that it would fit in every canopy space.  Furthermore, the base of each branch needed to be of the same diameter (with the division on an appropriate angle) to configure around the trunks seamlessly.

When Marlene’s maquette was complete, we scanned it with our CNC laser scanner and created a digital model of the tree. Using the digital model, our industrial designers were able to calculate the expected loads that the cantilevered branches would be under. Using that information, they were able to specify a suitable armature material and joint connection. Furthermore, using the digital model, they were able to specify exactly how the armature material would need to be bent so that it would fit inside of the full sized branches.

Using the digital model created by the laser scanner, our CNC milling equipment milled the shape of the tree out of low density EPS foam. The photo that you see here was taken after the milled pieces of the tree were assembled and visited by our team of extremely talented sculptors. This was the first opportunity to see the tree at full size.

With Marlene’s approval of the shape at full size, we hardcoated the EPS foam with a thin layer of polyurethane to provide some rigidity to the tree. From there, Marlene led a team of our sculptors and covered the entire tree with a proprietary sculpting compound. Using texture stamps made from the bark of a real tree and an array of other sculpting tools the sculptors gave the tree an extremely realistic sculpted layer of bark.

Once Marlene was happy with the texture of the trees, they were primed and crated for delivery to our partnered roto-cast shop.

The branches were then roto-cast. Roto-casting essentially involves creating a mold completely around a  shape out of a material that will replicate its exact surface texture. The mold is then released off of the shape and reassembled (empty) with a small hole in it. From there, a fiber infused resin (very similar properties to the resins used in fiberglass) is poured into the hole, the hole is plugged and the entire mold is put onto an apparatus that can rotate the mold in every direction. As the mold rotates, the resin evenly coats the entire inner surface of the mold creating an exact replica. With this process, it is possible to add various layers with different properties for options like additional strength or flexibility. The advantage to this process as opposed to using fiberglass in open faced molds is that the cast part comes out in one structurally sound piece (that is made from a material that is very comparable to fiberglass) as opposed to two halves that require extensive labour to be assembled and seamed.

Once all of the pieces were cast, they were coated with an industrial grade metallic paint. We have full mix and tint stations of a variety of brands of paint so we worked very closely with Marlene to ensure that the selected swatch was exactly what she was looking for.

The trees were fully installed by a team provided by Heavy Industries. If you want to check out the trees, you can find them at 21 Carlton Street in Toronto, Canada.