>>> Wittrup <[log in to unmask]> 03/13 9:32 PM >>>
>A number of years back, Michael Snow's magnificent sculpture of geese was
>installed in the Eaton Centre in Toronto.  Then, one Christmas, someone got the
>bright idea of putting Santa hats or bows or something on them.  Snow was
>furious and, I believe, launched a suit (maybe just threatened) and won.  No
>more Christmas bedecked geese.
>
>Yes, I think one should take into account the creator of objects, especially
>when they are alive!!
>
>Susan J. Wittrup
>Volunteer Coordinator
>Tate Geological Museum
>Casper WY 82601

On the flip side of the issue:


Then there is the case of the extrememly ugly sculpture forced upon a dorm by the university administration (note: the artist created the work from two sculptures she did not like, creating one she liked only marginally better). The students decide to liven it up by painting it colors other than black, but it gets repainted black quickly by the university. Additions are made to it, which are quickly removed, etc. The students are told not to deface artwork. The students suggest repeatedly to move it elsewhere on campus, give as a gift to a new dorm being built, the university to sell it and add the proceeds to whatever fund they are trying to build up at the time, all to no avail. So they write to the artist who was still living at the time (she has since died) to ask what she thinks about their changes to the sculpture and she replies that she does not mind at all that they are working on her piece. Despite this reply, the administration still does not allow any changes, nor will they remove it to somewhere else on campus (the location of the sculpture is in one of those places where anything that needs to be fixed, replaced, or general upkeep needs to be paid out of that one dorm's operating budget, yet the dorm has no say as to what is placed there nor how the area should look, although other dorms appear to have some say  for their grounds). 

If the artist approves of changes, additions, etc. should they then be allowed to occur?

(just bringing up a discussion topic)

                                                        -angela
Angela Putney, Ph.D.
Physics Management Fellow
American Institute of Physics
One Physics Ellipse
College Park, MD 20740

Phone: 301-209-3135
Fax:      301-209-3133
E-mail: [log in to unmask]

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