Jay,
I disagree.  I would be with you on this if the sculpture were sequestered
in some private space or even in a gallery with an introductory note about
its content.  But to say we have a choice of NOT looking?
Public space is just that: public.  Intrusions into public space come in
many forms: light polution from urban spaces or trash strewn in the street,
for example, are not the same a television which you must turn on to engage.
In order to decide that you DON'T want to look at something like a public
sculpture, you would have to see it first, even if your decision not to
look appears instantaneous, you would have to absorb enough visual
information to make a decision not to continue looking.
The issue here is not the merit of the work, but its placement as part of
the public landscape.
Your posting raises another red-flag issue for me: your suggestion that we
"tune out" our surroundings.  This ability to turn off the visual is not a
skill we--as a species--should be cultivating.  We have lost so much as it
is (can you imagine having to see and quickly perceive danger in the wild?
a subtle rustle of leaves could spell doom to a human who is not paying
attention to the visual environment.  Our culture so poorly serves the
visual now, should we become even more skilled at this, we will certainly
lose a measure of our humanity.
Anna

...I understand where you're coming from.  But no-one MUST look at public
sculpture.  Similarly, no one MUST read billboards, watch television, or
listen to public address announcements.  People in our hurried society
tune out their surroundings all the time.  Maybe that's the problem!?
To each his own . . .
Jay Heuman
Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
Joslyn Art Museum
2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
342-3300 (telephone)   342-2376 (fax)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anna Fariello, Curatorial InSight, Box 505, Christiansburg VA 24068
www.curatorialinsight.com;  540-382-3946;  [log in to unmask]
Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg VA 24061-0227
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