Denver Public Art
As a group we went down town to the convention center to view the public art in the area. We viewed the iconic “I know what you mean” more commonly know as the Blue Bear by Lawrence Argent, Bernard Venet’s “Indeterminate Line”, Jonathan Borosky’s “Dancers”, John McEnroe’s “Model state” and the Denver Theater billboard “Faces of Colorado Art”. The interesting thing about the public art on display was the sheer scale of the pieces. Unlike museum art that in general requires close scrutiny to appreciate the craftsmanship the public art that I viewed could be both appreciated from close up and from a distance. It was equally interesting to see how the art pieces interacted with their environments. Some of the artwork enhanced and almost blended in to the landscape for example “Faces of Colorado Art” displayed on a gigantic billboard against a red brick wall, while others like “Dancers” stood in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape.
The two pieces I really enjoyed and felt most impacted by were Argent’s “I know what you mean” and Borosky’s “Dancers”. From a distance the shape of Argent’s work seems organic though the blue coloring is unlike any bear that has yet been discovered in nature. The bear is forty foot tall and weighs in at over 10,000 pounds. The scale of the piece is impressive from a distance and I found it just a little intimidating from up-close. Even though the object is inanimate the size of the piece gives it an undeniable presence and a sense of power. From this close perspective one realizes the bear is not smoothly fashioned but rather carved using flat planned angles. The angled planes were created when the bear’s design was fed into a 3-dimensional computer model generator. The artist Argent decided that he liked the strange effect and decided not to alter it. The bear’s color is also a serendipitous occurrence as it was the color the computer had generated for it, again the artist decided to roll with the color and keep it. The piece is made from molded concrete polymers and steel. The material is very durable and is ideally suited to Denver’s harsh winters. The dark blue coloring also makes the piece difficult to deface. Argent is a concept artist who was inspired by a toy bear one of his children owned.
Public art interacts with its environment, the giant blue bear in my opinion fits perfectly into the landscape surrounding the convention center. The convention center is a modern building built to an enormous scale. This huge blue nature statue peering in the window of the convention center is an unusual play on the relationship between nature and man. It seems to me that the bear represents a transitional stage between nature and man. The shape and characteristics are from nature but the design and color are from the realm of man. This piece works well in Denver, which is notorious for being an outdoor nature conscious state. In others cities or locations this piece might not be as effective or as beautiful
The second piece that I enjoyed was Borosky’s “Dancers”. The piece is located in the green space outside of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. According to the Public Earth website the piece is quite controversial and has many admirer and critics who both love and hate the piece. Regardless of ones opinion the piece is undeniably powerful and striking. The piece extends over sixty feet into the air. The materials used were steel and fiberglass. It is composed of two featureless elongated figures and an auditory component of rhythmic music that is played through speakers set into the ground below the piece. The figures are painted white, a color I would presume is easy to deface yet the pieces were unmarked when I viewed them. I wondered if they are regularly maintained or if at night there is security patrol that prevents graffiti tagging.
Unlike the blue bear that though large is constructed to a smaller scale than the surrounding buildings, Borosky’s piece stands quite a bit taller than the surrounding infrastructure and can be viewed easily from a distance. The piece was constructed in 2003 into a large area that was designated as a sculpture park. “Dancers” was the first work to be displayed in the park and so far it is the only one. The scale of the piece has made finding complimentary or works that won’t be overwhelmed by Borosky’s piece difficult. The piece is located outside a performing arts studio so the dancing figures are responding to the environment. They are set quite a distance from DCPA buildings making the relationship much more tenuous than Argent’s work is to the convention center.
I really enjoyed the piece. From long range the piece seemed static but from close up it has the impression of movement. We visited the piece during the middle of a sunny day. The shadows created by the piece combined with the powerful beat of the music added to the illusion of movement. When viewing the piece from ground perspective the backdrop is the sky, which on a windy day has moving clouds or on a hot day the sun makes the air shimmer. When I looked at them I thought they were moving and the windy sky was static.
The figures appeared otherworldly; beings whose very essence was dance. I found myself nodding my head and tapping my foot to the music, the piece is very interactive inspiring a strong desire to join in. Although the faces are featureless the body language indicates joy and happiness. The figures are also genderless. Traditionally I would associate partner dancing with male and female figures yet, Borosky has chosen to make them genderless. I feel this makes the piece very inclusive and universal reaching out to all members of the population, which for me is the most important factor in public art work.
Overall, I feel the public art I have seen around Denver gives character to the city and makes the areas downtown friendlier and more interesting. It gives the city a sense of culture. I think it is great that an area traditionally associated with business would dedicate space and resources to inspiring and challenging its population. It brings a very human element to the concrete metropolis.
Venet's "Indeterminate Line"
"Faces of Colorado"
"I know what you mean" Lawrence Argent
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