Illegal sculpture

[philpraxis]

Recently I witnessed an illegal sculpture installation in Paris. Quite fun!

Here is some entry I wrote about it:
http://philippelanglois.free.fr/dotclear/index.php?2007/04/16/177-collectif-aeroporte-installation-illicite-d-oeuvres-en-milieu-urbain-place-de-clichy

And also attached, a picture of the stuff.

[philpraxis]

Ooops... sorry, the post was not clear enough:
So the sculpture on the pedestal has been missing for 50+years and some people decided to install a new contemporary sculpture in it empty place.

It seems to be having major touristic success with people going up there all the time :)

[Merlion]

Would you have other pictures taken from other directions, or a bigger picture? Is it a tall glass case on the pedestal, and is this glass case a part of the illegal sculpture?

[fritchie]

I have to agree with Merlion; the image is not very clear. I assume that is a man and not a sculpture of a figure inside, but is anything else in the box, or is it empty? It appears there may be one or two post-like things in the box, though those may simply be distortions of the building at rear.

A clever use of space, whatever the situation! Many thanks.

[fused]

So this is a pedistal that has remained empty since the German occupation of World War II,
when the sculpture that once stood there was melted down to produce ammunition
and people are now invited to stand in the space where the art once stood.


Am I understanding this correctly?

[Merlion]

So this is a pedistal that has remained empty since the German occupation of World War II,
when the sculpture that once stood there was melted down to produce ammunition
and people are now invited to stand in the space where the art once stood.
Gosh! Is this invitation to do with ammunition as well? :eek:

[evaldart]

I know a sculptor who made an ongoing project out of altering or affecting the "art" bolted to the walls in hotel rooms. His job had him doing alot of traveling so he packed along a tool bag and made it his passion to tediously remove the pictures from the wall, unframe them, and then ever so slightly mark them with paint, pen or pencil. Then re-install it satisfied at impacting this so called art. To me he actually turned it into art by doing this - before it was merely decorative blubber printed out by the thousands to fulfill Motel 6's idea of interior design. Nobody ever noticed - it was a pure and self-fulfilling project, conceptually origional and timidly guerilla.

[philpraxis]

Ahaha... evaldart, I like your story.

Yes, indeed the sculpture itself is the glass & metal framing and stairs. Also correct about the ammo: the bronze sculpture was melted for ammunition building by nazis during WWII.

I'm going to go have a look again soon with a better camera (this was my phone's camera).

Philippe.

[philpraxis]

Here is another picture:

http://philippelanglois.free.fr/dotclear/images/A%E9roport%E9Photo007-800x600.jpg

[StevenW]

I know a sculptor who made an ongoing project out of altering or affecting the "art" bolted to the walls in hotel rooms. His job had him doing alot of traveling so he packed along a tool bag and made it his passion to tediously remove the pictures from the wall, unframe them, and then ever so slightly mark them with paint, pen or pencil. Then re-install it satisfied at impacting this so called art. To me he actually turned it into art by doing this - before it was merely decorative blubber printed out by the thousands to fulfill Motel 6's idea of interior design. Nobody ever noticed - it was a pure and self-fulfilling project, conceptually origional and timidly guerilla.


That's classic and belongs in the funny art stories thread. :)

[philpraxis]

Ooops evaldart, stevenW just put you in box ;-)

[fritchie]

Thanks for all this, Phil. It is a good example of hit-and-run art, with a classical twist.

[philpraxis]

Here it's causing a stir with pro-Fourrierists who shout and say "At least there should be some reference to his work", the public authority who'd prefer to sublease the urban place to JCDecaux to get some more cash (screw them), and the public who just have fun inside the box. (And they think i'm the one making this because I blogged about it, mwouahahhaha).

I judge this as a success for the collective who did it :)

Cheers
Phil.

[Scout]

Looks kind of smokey in that box. :rolleyes: Scout

[philpraxis]

Vidéo around the sculpture:

http://www.dailymotion.com/bezombes/video/x1qbhu_embrevement-n3