Articles with the keyword public art
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A Nice Dandelion: Visual experiences at a shopping centre in Trondheim
Suomen Antropologi: Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society Volume 34(2) 2009:70-83
Abstract
The Dandelion, a nine meters tall naturalistic sculpture painted in bright green
and yellow car paint, was installed on a traffic island outside the City Syd Shopping
Centre on August 9th 2007. The sculpture provides an example with which to
study the role art plays within public places. Aesthetic qualities are a useful place
to start when trying to understand the role of public art. The Dandelion’s form,
colour and physical connection with elements within the same location, give the
sculpture an opening to establish a relationship with its public. The Dandelion’s
public is the focus of this paper. What the public sees may lead to talk of other
things connected to the Dandelion, but it is the sculpture’s physical form and
visual qualities which initiate the response. The judgement of form is a constant
preoccupation; we make value judgements about many of the objects around us
in day-to-day life. Taste is based on everyday experiences, and not on fixed
standards. The dandelion provides visitors to the shopping centre with something
with which to consider and measure other elements in the area with. It is likely
that they would have done this anyway, but the Dandelion provides them with
an aesthetic standard with which to do this. This paper is based on fieldwork
experiences in 2007 and 2008 at the City Syd Shopping Centre, which is located
in the Tiller neighbourhood on the outskirts of Trondheim, Norway.Keywords aesthetics, agency, public art, shopping centres