Artsramble Archive Walking Tour of Raleigh
by Antonio Rivera @ 1:59 pm.
A feeling of ennui that began in the last art season is growing deeper as this one nears its end, so I take to the streets in search of art, dismissing the meager fare in the galleries. I grow abysmally tired of seeing the work of artists still working through their influences and or exhibiting works that mimic the work of other artists or derive from pop culture (who wants to see more mediocre cartooning or Japanese advertising.) I know every artist has to work through his or her influences, but do we have to work it through with them. So, ho-hum, for the galleries.
I am inviting you to join me on my art walk. There is much work by accomplished artists, more original artists, and, as such, there exists room for genuine discussion.
We will begin and end our walk with two works of civic art, but first: a clarification of the terms “civic” and “public,” as there is much talk today about public art when what is meant is civic art. Public art is the placing of an artwork, such as we find in galleries and museums in a public space. Civic pieces, only occasionally rises to the level of fine art . Inherently it is meant to glorify or promote some ideal the community (represented by its government or some private civic body , for example, the promoters of the Plensa Plaza) believes it holds in common. In light of this, the only Public work of art in Raleigh is the poorly sited, Light Tower on Downtown Blvd.
We begin with the late Vernon Pratt’s, Mural for the Education Building on N. Wilmington St. The work is only visible ton the back of the building (again poor siting for a work). The best approach is to climb to the relatively unknown above street level plaza from Salisbury St.
From the plaza, we take note of a huge white form, canted from the top left towards the right at its bottom, containing various marks. Coming nearer, we note similar markings on the dominant plum colored wall, from its center to the whole of the right. When we stand back some twenty-five feet to view the whole, the visual element of marking is lost, and the white form represents a sheet of paper with a text written in cursive script. The wall see,s to consist only of written citations.
Visual art and text are rarely compatible, for they require different systems for apprehension. The visual is sensory and usually symbolic rather than specific, while text (though taken in by the sense of sight) activates the mind into a literal connection to text and meanings and thought responses that block visual and other sensory intakes.
The late Vernon Pratt, a member of the Art Dept. at Duke, was seriously involved in finding ways to join art (visual and sculptural) and text, was the most likely choice to undertake this project, but its demands were insurmountable. Though I have referred to it as a Mural, this is actually a two-element work, and it was the demands made by the commissioning authorities for the wall, that Pratt could not surmount. The commissioning body was woefully ignorant and dismissive of art and demanded a wall of text. Pratt might have been able to do something with the wall, had it been just one text, but the wall carries about twenty different citations from different sources and so becomes a cacophony of words and ideas. The objective of the project is to promote literacy . Ironically it fails to note that if one can read, they are preaching to the converted. The wall ultimately is a sermon and we do not want our civic authorities preaching to us in such a manner. Civic art should, by various means, subliminally attempt to enlighten and encourage participation, not demand it.
The second element, a set of eight stone benches facing the wall, better reflects the development of Pratt’s ideas, and the subtle means of good public art. As we face the wall, we want a way to take it in and so we sit. Initially we’re likely to miss that the benches also contain text. When we become aware of it, we see that each bench provides one single coherent text that we can leisurely read Rather than being thrown at us, we discover it.
In Moore Square, we find Raleigh’s Acorn, by David Benson, a work of civic art. The artist, David Benson, understood the limitations of the commission, i.e.to create a given symbol, representing Raleigh and thus not allowing for a reflection of his creative concerns. This piece was not meant to be art, but it was meant to be well crafted and enduring, as most civic art is meant to be. Benson is a sculptor, facing here the age-long tradition of sculptors, as often as not hired for their craft more than for any originality. This is no demeaning reflection on sculptors, and definitely not on Benson. Although not really active for many years, his work was always original (often using mechanical, moving elements) and always finely crafted.
There is more out there to find and see, some of it within the area we have just traversed. More of my commentary will appear in this space, but we invite you to walk the city, find the art and write comments of your own.