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The Burnside Biennale of Contemporary Art
What I fear along with many is that we're seeing the emergence of a so-called 'donut city', where all the social and commercial energy has been spun out to the malls and industrial parks on the edges. And you know where most of our existing public art would end up in a donut city? It would end up 'in the hole' – stuck in an empty centre.
A donut, with hole (partially obscured)
But maybe the problem of the empty centre should actually be seen as a prompt. Maybe artists should do as many others have done and seek spaces further out. Maybe the proving ground for public art henceforth is not the centre but the suburbs. 'The Burnside Biennial of Contemporary Art' doesn't have quite the right ring to it. But how about 'SCAPE New Brighton', with the empty shops and downtrodden mall reclaimed as an arcade for art? Or 'Prospect Woolston'? Or 'The Linwood Triennial'? Or for that matter (just dreaming here) a big-ass steel spider by Louise Bourgeois on the roof of The Palms shopping mall? Or a Jeff Koons retrospective in the parks and reserves of Northwood?
With those last two I admit there are a few (ahem) funding challenges, but otherwise I'm sold...
At 9:39 AM on 13/02/2012, Roger Boyce wrote:
As per your spot-on Brighton Mall 'proposal'- The 1980 Colab "Times Square Show" and ABC No Rio's ongoing curatorial efforts (defined by the Lower East Side group as "oppositional culture") have demonstrated the affinity and 'natural' fit of financially blighted city precincts and the arts. ABC No Rio's "Real Estate Show" (also 1980) went so far as to extra-legally occupy and re-purpose abandoned commercial property. Such activities are a far cry from events underwritten by established commercial and public interests. Sponsors whose very interests may limit the place, time and content of art shows, events and/or Biennales.
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