
Raphaėl Mognetti (Prancūzija).
Šokis su Zita.
2002, dažytas plienas, 250 x 400 x 130 |
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Sculpture
Zone in Kaunas
by Rasa Andriušytė
The idea.
The site chosen for the project is an industrial area, framed by a busy
street (Taikos Avenue in Kaunas), an industrial railway, and a hydrothermal
plant. In recent years is has become home to offices and industrial
facilities of numerous companies. The concept of the project was to
mount original art pieces at this specific location, where people come
only to work or bypass it on the way to more attractive parts of the
town. Traditional decorative sculpture could hardly be expected to become
a highlight of such a rough setting. To adorn the grounds,
was not deemed as a sufficient task, sculptural objects were expected
to introduce some organization into a monotonous and dreary space of
industrial quarters. They had to stand in close relationship (contrasting
or harmonious) with the specific qualities of the place. Thus the key
idea was to create real signs of the place, works of art in situ,
exploiting the specific location features through choice of materials
and form.
Thirteen artists were invited to participate in the contest, six of
them were selected, Mindaugas Navakas and Robertas Antinis were invited
to participate as guests of honour.
Some Aftermath Thoughts. The expansion of arts into open areas,
whether natural or thickly urbanized, has been taking place for several
decades internationally. Landscapes and urban vistas have become a setting
and subject matter for the work of the artists who have
abandoned confined spaces of the galleries. Some might find it absurd
to throw such costly works of art into suburbs. This absurdity
is part of the concept. The heritage of the Soviet urban development
relentless unified surroundings is a system of coordinates for
these works. All the features of the place noise, pollution,
and erosion are both subject matter of these works and an extension
of their semantic field. Though sovereign artistic values of each piece
will be discovered only at a closer inspection, even passers by will
not fail to note the unusual contrast that this altered patch of the
town strikes. It is also important that art cast on the fringes of the
town gets another chance to become interesting outside its own circle.
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