Times-Picayune columnist writes this week about the dividing line between what is appropriate and not regarding publicly placed artworks in New Orleans:
Someone objected to Bywater sidewalk art, and city crews demolished it
Posted by Chris Rose, Columnist, The Times-Picayune October 05, 2008 4:30AM
New Orleans has never been a city that plays much by the rules, if for no other reason than there aren't that many in the first place and what rules there are tend to be obscure, unknown or overlooked.
At no time has this been more in evidence than in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, when a large-scale sense of activism and ownership took hold of the masses.
The topic here is public property, public facilities and public art, and the expanding sense of not only entitlement, but sometimes obligation, among the citizenry to involve themselves in the rebuilding "process."
Since the storm, many residents, and at least one (in)famous visitor, have installed facilities and artworks around town without getting, or even seeking, permission.
For instance, very few American cities -- OK, well... none -- allow citizens to make the official street signs. Then again, very few American cities -- perhaps Galveston comes to mind -- were missing so many street signs that it practically required residents to pitch in. Hence, the many colorful and creative street signs that once adorned our intersections but which have now almost completely disappeared to "progress."
Also, it is illegal for citizens to replace dead foliage on city neutral grounds or cut grass and prune trees on neutral grounds and at public playgrounds, but, in many cases, if they didn't do it, who would?
In last Sunday's newspaper, my colleague Katy Reckdahl wrote about a local activist, Carey Shea, who goes by the moniker of "the bench fairy" because she organized the construction of benches which she has placed at busy bus stops around the city, providing relief for weary commuters.
It's hard to argue the efficacy and public good of these projects, but no doubt there is somebody sitting in a government cubicle somewhere calculating the legal liability of the city or the RTA if somebody trips over one of those benches and breaks an arm.
Examples such as these generally meet unanimous public and even implicit government approval, but at what point is a line crossed and when does one man's public improvement project become another's public nuisance?
The underground artist known as NoLa ReX has, for two years now, organized art parties wherein friends and associates gather to paint inspirational slogans ("NOLA RISING!," "Shallow Water Ain't No Bother!," etc.) on small pieces of wood and cardboard. Then they hang them randomly all over town on utility poles, fences and the like.
Many people are cheered by these signs and NoLa ReX has encouraged people to take home whatever they like; free art for the masses. However, the notorious anti-graffiti crusader, Fred Radtke, has waged war against NoLa ReX and has obliterated many of his works with gray paint -- hence Radtke's street moniker, the Gray Ghost.
So who's right and who's wrong in such a case? Technically, both ReX and Radtke routinely break the law (Radtke often paints over graffiti on stop signs and other public property, compounding the crime of defacement). So, should we send them both to jail and make them share a cell (a gray cell, one presumes)?
Much has been written in recent weeks about the works of the legendary British graffiti artist Banksy, who created more than a dozen comic, political and surreal stencil paintings on walls and buildings around the city to commemorate the third anniversary of Katrina.
The cognoscenti (translation: some of my colleagues at the paper) agree: The work is very good quality. It passes that fine line. It is "art."
But it's also on public and private property. What to do? Every aforementioned example of public activism is against the rules. So who gets to decide what goes and what stays?
In a more recent and less publicized example, the city got to decide and last week it voted "go" and sent in the wrecking ball.
This case involved not Banksy, but the Bank of Soul, a curious art installation/protective barrier outside the artist Christopher Porche-West's studio at the corner of Louisa and Burgundy streets in the Bywater.
The back story is this: After Katrina, the ballard at that corner -- one of those ancient waist-high iron poles that prevent vehicles from driving over the curb -- disappeared, likely victim to the army of iron and copper thieves preying on our community.
Vehicles -- particularly trucks navigating the neighborhood's narrow streets -- began driving over the curb. It crumbled and cratered. The sidewalk outside Porche-West's studio became a big pothole, both ugly and dangerous.
So Porche-West took it into his own hands to spruce up and protect the entrance to his studio. The building he rents had an old safe in it -- an objet trove for which he had been looking for a suitable home. He cemented the safe into the spot where the ballard once stood, figuring this big box of iron would deter vehicles from ruining the sidewalk again.
He decorated the safe and poured concrete to fill in the rest of the pothole. Being an artist, he soldiered on with the project and -- for decoration and mojo -- he added a piece of iron ornamentation, a statue of the Virgin Mary and he laid some replica blue and white New Orleans street tiles into the sidewalk that said "Bank of Soul."
The safe conjured the image of a bank and the "soul" part means, well -- I'll let him tell it:
"There is a soulful intent on the part of many with regards to rebuilding this city," Porche-West says. "Each person sees themselves as a vital contributor to what the city will become as it rebuilds. I see myself as a contributor. It was only pointed out to me after the fact that I had broken the law. But this was not an act of civil disobedience. It wasn't an act of aggression. I wasn't trying to prove a point and I wasn't trying to create a controversy -- not at all!
"I did this mainly to fix the sidewalk, but also to honor the spirit of the people of New Orleans and this very soulful place we live in. So many vital elements and artifacts of the city are going by the wayside and ending up in landfills. The elements of the architecture and the community -- the elements of the houses we live in and the streets we walk -- help define who we are and what we are; they are part of our historical identity."
Now, some might question whether a rusty old safe and a statue of the Virgin Mary constitute vital elements of our historical communal identity, and, well -- someone obviously did.
Complaints were filed to City Councilman James Carter's office. An order was sent to the city Department of Public Works. Crews arrived last week and ripped out the installation, and in the process A) eradicated a wonderful assemblage of art, culture and history or, B) removed a public eyesore and took a stand against anarchy.
It all depends on your point of view.
Says Public Works director Robert Mendoza: "We don't ever want to get in the business of judging art. Myself, I find most of this stuff -- the street signs and displays like that -- to be really creative and, on the whole, pretty harmless."
But the safe was deemed a public hazard, unsafe. And although his department hardly has the time or resources to seek out ad hoc projects such as the Bank of Soul, Mendoza is compelled to get involved when someone brings it to the city's attention.
Who that someone was remains a mystery. Mendoza says experience has taught him that most such complaints are "a case of someone who doesn't like the person who put the art up," Mendoza says. "It's usually more about personalities than it is art."
Porche-West is undeterred.
"There are infinite ways of looking at what beauty is," he says. "It was very hurtful when people said I broke the law. I thought it was aesthetically pleasing and a positive enhancement for the community.
"And by placing the Virgin Mary there, I was leaving the matter of safety in God's hands."
But it didn't help, he concludes. "There was no intercession at all."
No comments:
Post a Comment