A Figure of Fun ?

[Merlion]

Here's a case of a funded public sculpture attracting controversy because it is deemed to be too plain and too average.

The sculpture is by a renowned sculptor, and is unanimously selected by a panel of judges. The article below gives interesting insights into those who are for and against it.

Will city HQ's sculpture become a figure of fun?

IT is meant to represent a vision of Edinburgh as one of the world's most "inspiring" places.

This sculpture of Joe Public dressed in a plain shirt and trousers standing atop a scaffold-like platform, is the result of an exhaustive search for the city's latest work of art.

But the £100,000 sculpture has received a mixed reaction from pundits who agree on only one thing - that it is a joke.

Some experts say the seven-metre high "everyman" sculpture means nothing, and that those who commissioned it failed to find a truly inspiring work of art.

However, supporters of the artwork see it as the perfect piece, and have described it as "poking fun" at the very nature of a monument.

The city's newest landmark will soon be the first thing visitors see when they enter the council's new HQ at East Market Street, and it will be clearly visible from Waverley Station and North Bridge.

Judges have selected the design by renowned sculptor Stephan Balkenhol from a strong field of Scottish and international artists.

And the piece, which mirrors sculptures he has created at public buildings across Europe, will see a modern sculpture of a man, two-and-half-metres high on top of a five-metre-high platform, standing watch over the plaza below.

The council's brief was to find a piece of art which would reflect the city's vision of being the "inspiring Capital", and the winning design received unanimous support from the judging panel. [snip]

Click here (http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=564832006) for the full article from the Scotsman newspaper. The article has a photo of the site, and a picture of the proposal drawing.

[Studioinde]

A certain P.T. Barnum quote comes to mind. But then so does the BBC comedy "The Office". I'm torn in my opinion. I guess that's what good art does. It raises questions......

[saisuhang]

I agree your opinoin:a figure of fun.

[Merlion]

This story from Edinburgh was reported in post #1 more than a year ago. The City Council had a public art competition and planned to install the winning public art worth £100,000. This is supposed to look like Ordinary Joe and placed in front of the new City Cuncil building.

"The council's brief was to find a piece of art which would reflect the city's vision of being the "inspiring Capital", and the winning design received unanimous support from the judging panel."

This is the winning artist's design sketch.

http://images.scotsman.com/2006/04/13/1304sculi.jpg

This below is the latest story of this public art.

Cardownie's art attack on ordinary Joe statue (http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh.cfm?id=892512007)

7 June 2007, HE has only been part of the city landscape for a few months.

But Edinburgh's latest major public work of art may be facing the scrapheap after proving unpopular with the new council leadership.

http://images.scotsman.com/2007/06/07/en07joeb.jpg

Steve Cardownie, the deputy council leader, today called for the "Everyman" statue to be removed from outside the new council headquarters.

The SNP group leader, who is also the city's festivals and events champion, said the £100,000 artwork looked like "a window cleaner who has dropped his ladder".

It had been "political correctness gone mad" for the previous council to choose a sculpture to represent "Joe Public", he added.

The city's new planning leader, Jim Lowrie, said it had been a mistake to put up a statue of a man, saying female office staff had complained to him it was sexist.

Other senior councillors, who asked not to be named, said the statue was a "major embarrassment" to the city.

Other senior councillors, who asked not to be named, said the statue was a "major embarrassment" to the city.

One said: "Staff cringe everytime they see it and they are amazed that so much money has been spent on it." ....

From another source, this is a good picture of the artwork.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/422267808_a0ce2210fd_m.jpg

[fritchie]

Sad is my reaction. As I've posted before over the last year or so, it's good to see so many public sculptural works going up across Scotland, possibly a result of the British "local representation" policy that seems to have followed the general approach to ending the Ireland - Northern Ireland battles. But this piece is a major disappointment to me, and I don't think time will change my opinion.

[Merlion]

There is an update to this 'ordinary joe' statue standing high up at a prominent location in Edinburgh, in front of the city council headquarters.

Is it a sin, an embarassment, to be ordinary?

No go for Joe as statue stays (http://news.scotsman.com/politics.cfm?id=1024212007)

30 June 2007, A CONTROVERSIAL statue of Joe Public, which stands outside the new council headquarters, has been saved from the scrapheap.

Calls were made for the removal of the Everyman artwork amid claims it was a "major embarrassment" to the city.

But councillors have voted to keep the public art, saying it would be a waste of money to have it placed elsewhere. ....

[evaldart]

The Everyman theme or "Joe Public" in this case has always been a good one for creative types to work with. The problem is that you cant have an "everyman" design and execute the sculpture. In the right hands this could have been wonderful. Ordinary can indeed be magnificently communicated.

[ironman]

Hi, Stephan Balkenhol has been around for years doing those "Everyman" figures. I actually like (there's no accounting for taste) some of them!
There is some tongue in cheek humor in that piece, the way it pokes fun at monuments, no famous person up there, just a regular every day working stiff.
Actually, that "Everyman" IS the real hero and those working class guys are the ones who deserve a monument.
Have a great day,
Jeff

[GlennT]

Poking fun at the monument....redefining public art...reassessing our relationship to the visual arts....turning the idea of a monument upside down...

These grade-school antics leave me wondering if after we pass through the age of stupidity, will we remember how to make great art?

[Merlion]

Hi, Stephan Balkenhol has been around for years doing those "Everyman" figures. ...
This link below shows quite a few of his figure sculptures.

Stephan Balkenhol, 2000 (http://www.brown.edu/Facilities/David_Winton_Bell_Gallery/balkenhol.html)

[Berinje']

I'm right there with you on that one Glenn T. Good art that endures, something inspiring that lifts the spirit, but instead the committee chose something that looks like it could have been made by kids in a fifth grade class playing with papermache. Go figure :confused:

[Merlion]

Try to look deeper into Stephan Balkenhol's everyman statues. There is one link I posted above. I can post more if interested.

These are not flippant works if one looks deeper. It is not for nothing that he has been doing this for years, and has been invited and exhibited internationally.

[GlennT]

Always nice to be reminded that despite our backgrounds we have not looked deeply enough into such works. :confused:

[Ries]

Here is my definition of "looking deeply" into ANY artist's work-

SEEING IT IN PERSON.

If you really feel qualified to make sweeping generalisations about an artist's entire career based on one postage stamped pixellated image, then you deserve to have your work judged accordingly.

But I think we all deserve better than that.

[GlennT]

Ries:

I'm not sure who you are referring to that made sweeping generalizations about the artist's entire career. As for me, I was just responding to one specific work of "art". I was not encouraged by that piece to delve any further into the artist's repetoire. A piece of velveeta cheese, for example, does not encourage me to sample other products by that company. I just go on appreciating real cheese.

[Tired Iron]

If the Foo shits, wear it. :D

[evaldart]

I understand the existential pepperings of this guys work but they are sculpted too flatly for my tastes. Just because his figure don't seem to care does not mean it should look as if he doesn't. I believe any subject, even overwhelming apathy, can be approached aggressively during the art process. Rigor mortis does not represent death very well...I'm for all the melodrama that can be mustered.

Of course Ries is right that final judgements should be reserved for the actual experience of the work...but we would have little to talk about and no art would get made if we ran around seeing every damn thing. Its probably okay if we guesstimate our responses to images of art here...we may be wrong sometimes but we're probably close. Hell I never went to a real museum til I was 18...it was all just books before that. The Met and the Louvre thick on the shelves next to the slurpee cups emblazoned by pictures of baseball players and superheros, Dave Kingman, the Incredible Hulk and Da Vinci watching over me as I slept.

[marblecutter]

I own two books on Stephan Balkenhol.
I was living in Germany for two years where I saw his work in person in Frankfurt. All I can say is that not every one will fall in love with his sculptures or my sculptures. It takes some time and effort to understand and appreciate a work of art. And also a level of education in terms of delving "deeper". Photographs of underwater life does not replace the experience of diving deeper or mere snorkeling.
The controversy I observe is from the new city council that replaces the old council that accepted Stephan's proposal and the statue. How would it feel if every time we change political parties we also change to the art that pleases the current party?

[Aaron Schroeder]

Thanks Merlion for yet another excellent post. Your efforts bring light into my dark little cave.

After reading all the posts, I'm sad. This may not be the greatest work but it has it's merits. The world reads our words, we should point out the elements that enable us to appreciate this work. It's easy and popular to make negative comments. We should be supporting this sculpture and it's sculptor.........instead of validating the the anger and intolerance of the ignorant masses.

The people who have a hard time with this sculpture......also have a hard time with your much better sculpture. This person is on our side.......we should show some support.

[Amelia_Patricia]

It's okay to say that you don't like something- but for the sake of helping the artist, I believe it would be more beneficial if clarified as to why you don't like it and be more specific. I think that there is a lot to be learned from opposing viewpoints. Maybe one can't please everyone but taking the time to understand one another is still a step forward.

A simple idea is not necessarily a bad one.

I say congradulations to that artist, I like the idea. I think it's very humble. :)

I think the artist and all of us writing feedback are equally brave for making his/her ideas known. All are equally valid.

-Amelia

[marblecutter]

I was so inspired by Stephan Balkenhol's work that I bought a chain saw and lots of large logs of wood. Not to imitate what he did, but to break the monotony of stone carving. My first experiences with sculpture were in clay and then in wood. Now I am mostly known for stones which have become my preferred medium because, they are to me the most challenging. I am inspired by the smell of oil paint- I acquired my BA degree in painting, and I am equally enamored with the smell of wood; they provide a joy to the olfactory in ways that I can not describe nor explain, but I love stones for their durability, texture and feel.
Stephan's work is not to be taken lightly, no matter how simple they may seem. We live in a world that cherishes all that sparkles, glitters and shines. We refuse to remove the blinders and see the light.
All in Favor of Stephan's work say I
So few of us will every accomplish 1/2 of what he has in our long artistic lives!

[GlennT]

[QUOTE=Aaron Schroeder]We should be supporting this sculpture and it's sculptor.........instead of validating the the anger and intolerance of the ignorant masses.

QUOTE]

By your words it seems that you are hoping for a career as an elitist art critic or museum curator. " Ignorant masses"? The work under question seems to be a monument of sorts to the average Joe. But when the average Joe does not like the work, he becomes one of the "ignorant masses ".

I, who have been engaged in the study and creation of art long enough to believe that I know a little more than my "ignorant" neighbors, have reacted to this piece negatively as well. So, because my opinion does not coincide with others who like this work, I have not delved deeply enough, do not understand the work, am wrong for not supporting his efforts, and in effect have an opinion that is no better than the " anger and intolerance " of the ignoramouses.

There is a certain irony about a studied opinion being reacted to with ( anger and intolence? )

So, I am asked, since it is easy to be negative about a work, could I be more specific?

I am reminded of occaisions when visiting someone's house, it could be a relative, a friend, or a client, and they have someone's paintings on the wall who is a friend of the family or a relative. It is work that is clearly amateurish, and you are asked for an opinion. It is sort of a no win situation, in as much as the work may be sort of nice as far as it goes, but it just does not go very far. It is work that would embarass you if you had done it yourself as a beginning student. But you don't want to offend the people of whom you are a guest, and you don't want to mislead. After all, the other guests were not asked to comment..your impressions were sought out because of your background and experience.

So, the for a person who is dedictated to the idea that " the truth shall make you free " who also makes an effort to be diplomatic, the balancing act involves the compromise position of searching for something positive to say, keeping it as brief as possible so as to not have to touch upon the defects.
" Nice use of light and shade " for example. Or, " Interesting subject matter "
Or, the change the subject technique: " Is that a picture of someone's barn that the artist knew? "

So, in order to no longer be pilloried for not loving and appreciating the work of Stephan Balkenhol, after having looke a little further into his work, I will say that it does express a strong affinity towards average.

Now, back to my dissertation on the beauties of Minnesota's Paul Bunyan roadside sculptures....

[underfoot]

I consider Stephan Balkenhol one of my major influences,
Years ago, at a time when I had just about overdosed on
the ideal/heroic figure, I saw Balkenhols "man standing in singlet"
and it introduced a whole new direction in figurative sculpture.
In my first ever post to ISC forums I included a pic of a
Bruno Luchisi study, this piece was the result of attacking
the original with a chainsaw after seeing Balkenhols
work

before after

[GlennT]

underfoot:

I like, appreciate, and respect your work. The work of the muse you cite does nothing for me, but like others have said, thank God for the diversity.
If your muse was LSD, I would still like, apppreciate, and respect your work but not the LSD. Edinburgh, Scotland would have been much better served, IMHO, had it been one of your pieces outside its city council building instead of the current work. Even if everyone else on this site thought it was a great work, it would not change my opinion of it. There are quite a few artists who post here, working in a broad range of styles and media, whose work I would much rather see up there.

If there is something else about Stephan's work besides this sculpture and those that are shown in the link that Merlion posted, I'm still willing to try and figure out what the big deal is. So if you know of some hidden gems, please post a link.

[Aaron Schroeder]

Glenn........This sculpture does what it was intended to do. It depicts a person simular to the people who work in the buildings around it. This person is elevated via a pedestal plain and simple ( any engineer would approve it's construction). Normal figurative pose, normal apparel, normal pedestal, normal exterior presentation. All normal except for the fact that it's not.

If you visited the site and saw it as a pedestrian, you wouldn't see the close up view that is depicted closer to the beginning of this thread. You'd see something more like the image taken from a distance. Even up close, the figure would appear small. As viewers we could focus on the details of it's execution, evaluate every cut, weld, and application of paint........I'm certain anyone of us could find numerous examples of a less than perfect fabrication effort. I don't think it was intended to be a perfect sculpture ......I think it was intended to depict a normal person ( considering the surroundings ) elevated on a pedestal ( within budget....within schedule ). Looks to me like the selection committee got exactly what they asked for. The " Average Joe " elevated on a pedestal.

What would you have done differently ? A better average joe gesture, better surface modelling, better pedestal ? Cheaper ? Faster ? What ?

I like this sculpture because it depicts what looks like an average office worker on a tall pedestal. My eletist art critic and curatorial training enables me to grasp this simple idea and enjoy it. I would have enjoyed it more if it had been made of diamond encrusted platinum but I understand that the artist had to work within budgetary and time constraints while earning a respectable living. He did the job he was asked to do just like the guys he was asked to depict.

Glenn......You seem to me to be a really smart person.........I feel certain that if you thought about it long enough you'd find a way to see this sculpture from a different angle, one that would bring you happiness and joy. Or not. Perhaps those insights ( if you found and shared them ) would help those who have a hard time with this work.

Like I said before........it's easy to find faults.......to hate another persons work........to think we can do better.

I'm an artist .....I challenge you to see things differently.

[dilida]

Ya'll are sure using a lot of words to try and convince someone to like something just because you do. Why? I personally don't care for this piece either. The world seems damn near saturated with art, we are free to like what we like, and dislike what we dislike, for whatever reasons, high-brow reasons are no more important than blue-collar reasons when it comes to personal preferences. Why challenge Glenn "to see things differently"? He obviously already does, just not in agreement with you. Not that he needs me defending him, why not just agree to disagree?

lisa

[GlennT]

When Norman Rockwell painted the "everyman" engaged in daily life, he did so with vibrancy, humor, and love. When Max Kalish sculpted the "everyman" as a the blue collar worker, he did so with strong gestures and love. When Tait Mackenzie sculpted the "everyman" engaged in athletics, he did so with rhythm, gesture, and love.

In the works of Balkenhol that have been presented on this thread, I do not get a sense of love, vibrancy, rhythm, strength in gesture, or even humor that rises to a level that moves me in any way.

One has to love the average person in order to communicate something about him or her that is worth emmulating. Or, to put it differently, an artist who sees with eyes of love will depict his or her subject , whatever or whoever that may be, with a sense of delight in the creation.

I hope I have made what matters to me as an artist and a person clear enough so as to be done with critiquing the work in question.

GlennT

[marblecutter]

Quotes from web reference of the original post:


Tory councillor Elaine Aitken, who was part of a cross-party group involved in helping to choose the winning concept, said: "This was the best of the designs that we saw. I think people will grow to appreciate it."

However, one Lib Dem councillor, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "The sooner this blasted thing is removed the better."

At the time of the sculpture's unveiling, the artist said: "I felt the figurative sculpture that I proposed could make a link between the historical Old Town and the contemporary architecture, and add a human quality to the building."

Arts impresario Richard Demarco said: "It's hardly an inspiring image of Edinburgh.

"This statue could be in any city anywhere in the world. What does it say about Edinburgh? For that amount of money, the city should've been able to come up with something much better than that."


My opinion:
This is not an average Joe or a Joe public as previously noted. When the words average and Joe are attached, the worth of the sculpture is automatically minimized and trivialized. If it was made of bronze or gold the grumpy council members would have felt they got the city's money's worth. There was also a comment that the subject should have rather been a female.
This figure is not at all a "blue collar" worker, and much less, "your average Joe!" This could be a self portrait of the artist. It could be a harbinger of unification, of harmony and peace, or even a Messiah. Aren't we after all , created equally?
jcm