This is a sculpture in Middlesbrough town centre by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. I deliberately tried to make this image appear drab and washed out because this area is drab and washed up. Even though it's where I grew up and I love it, it is one of the most poverty stricken areas in the country and it always strikes me that there would be this huge, beautiful piece of art right next to a neighbourhood that is riddled with crime. Although you can't see it in this picture, the bottle also stands next to the Mima, The Middlesbrough Museum of Modern Art that is a recent addition to the area. All museums and art galleries in England are free to the public and my hope is that in it's attempt to bring art to the people, Middlesbrough becomes a safer and more prosperous place to live. Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen also did Cupid's Span on the Embarcadero in San Francisco.
1 comment:
Your post raised the issue for me of art and gentrification. In this country (I don't know how it is in England, or other countries where funding for the arts looks different) public art and housing for artists are very often the first step in "urban renewal" - a complicated beast that usually drives lower income folks out of the community, rather than bringing art to the people. Is it different in England?
dv
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