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In Finland, two public Lenin sculptures were removed by the cities of Kotka and Turku after Russia launched its war against Ukraine in 2022. This article focuses on the expulsion of the sculptures, and how their status as gifts not only factored in these removal processes but is related to cultural heritage in general. It is argued that the trope of ‘heritage as a gift’ should not be understood as an intergenerational transaction, but an act between contemporary heritage communities. The communities give their heritage, part of their identities, to others for recognition and reciprocity, and this widens the public space for further interactions. In modern states, official institutions, in this case the Cities of Kotka and Turku, acknowledge communities and their heritage and incorporate them into the shared political space. This makes official decisions to remove items of heritage, like the busts of Lenin, problematic. Instead of extending the diversity of heritage communities, such gestures can diminish public space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"We Are" is a well-known phrase that usually comes before "Penn State," especially at football games. It has been symbolic of desegregation in athletics as The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) football players refused to play racially segregated games back in 1946. Then, who does "we" represent and who belongs to the "we" in contemporary times? How is "we" defined, and what assumptions are embedded in the notion of "we"? In this article, I critically reflect on these questions by demystifying the homogeneous "we" and illuminating underrepresented voices within the Penn State community through the participatory visual inquiry project, (AR)E WE? Centering the public sculpture on campus, WE ARE, as a site for artistic intervention and reflexivity using augmented reality (AR), I aim to revitalize the spirit of "We Are," which symbolizes diversity, equity, and inclusion with a lens of solidarity through difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last years, visual artist Henriette Heise has installed two temporary public sculptures entitled The Flanet (flat planet) (2019 and 2023) in parks outside public art galleries in Denmark. Although presented in urban space, these round, flat sculptures are easy to overlook because they materially blend in with their surroundings. In this conversation, Heise and art historian Mathias Danbolt discuss the expectations of visibility and legibility in discourses of public art with a starting point in Heise's The Flanets that she describes as sculptures that are seemingly "dressing up to disappear." Following Heise's proposal to approach The Flanets as "monuments to the unloved," Danbolt and Heise reflect on the conditions for public sculpture that engage with feelings of exhaustion and hopelessness in the face of planetary crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The debate on decolonizing monuments has provoked a great deal of covering and shrouding of public sculptures. This paper looks at three examples and shows how textile interventions alter a monument's visibility and, as products of (post)colonial trade or communal handicraft, add semantic layers. Ranging from The Kudzu Project's marking of Confederate monuments in Charlottesville, VA, through the covering of the Robert Milligan statue by protesters in London, to a curated artwork by Joiri Minaya in Hamburg, the examples span both geographical regions and the recent history of the debate. The paper proposes that textile ephemerality questions concepts of history embedded in the traditional materiality of public sculptures and provides a model for imagining other practices of commemoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Aposta is the property of Aposta and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article is a review of a book titled "Public Art and Youth: A Dialogic Aesthetic Experience" written by Sandra Lucía Uribe Alvarado. The book is based on academic research that analyzes the appreciation of young people from the University of Colima and the National Institute for Adult Education on three public art sculptures in Colima and Villa de Álvarez. The author also examines the relationship between the academic background of young people and their evaluations of public art, as well as the social function that public art fulfills from the perspective of young people. The book offers a clear structure with an introduction, two theoretical and methodological sections, an analysis of the data, and conclusions. Additionally, it provides a theoretical-methodological category called "dialogic aesthetic experience" and contributes to the field of knowledge of sociology of art. [Extracted from the article]

Shahzia Sikander speaks to Faisal Devji about her shift from painting to sculpture and the meaning of public art in the contemporary United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Enunciación is the property of Revista Enunciacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With his Family Group of 1948-49, Henry Moore seemed to have reneged upon his early-career commitment to modernist experimentation, pivoting towards a more representational style for this large public sculpture, his first major bronze, sculpted for and installed in one of the first purpose-built secondary modern schools of post-war Britain. The results aren't easy to define stylistically. Figurative, certainly, but barely concealing a stockpile of references ranging across centuries and continents. In this essay I will explore the implications of Moore's stylistic shift with respect to both the contexts of the work's conceptualisation and Moore's personal investment in the opportunities presented to work publicly in that context. Moore's working-class origins will be identified as foundational in the formation of an ideology given plastic purpose in this period, whilst the narratives of working-class experience at mid-century will be drawn upon to account for the ways this work relates to that period of social change. Taking Andrew Causey's identification of an affinity between Moore's work at this time and Picasso's 'neo-classical' period in the years after the Great War as a starting point, I will explore the consequence of Moore's ostensibly retrogressive turn towards figuration with respect to the questions of context and intent that have informed writings on Picasso before proposing alternative terms on which Moore's figurative turn might be understood, tied up with the socio-political upheavals of mid-century Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-year epic of sending a sculpture by Jeff Koons to the Moon on an expedition aboard the Odysseus spaceship is almost over: the module with the world's first authorized public sculpture on the surface of another extraterrestrial body of the Solar System made a landing but overturned, entering the phase of hibernation. It is not yet clear whether and when it will be possible to directly land the sculpture on the surface of the Earth's satellite. However, despite the obstacles of its inhospitable field conditions, the project has, in addition to the orbital conquistador mission, two other functional parts that are quite effective: ground collection consisting of approximated elements of the object, which are advertised in media, and digital NFT site-specific sculpture. Expert analysis of the available information allowed us to state another recycling of the sculptural ideas of the 1960s-1970s, known in art history under the definition of "postminimalism" or "systemic art," which were associated with the "Art in Public Place" programs of the National Council on Arts and the NASA-compatible program "Space City. USA." Therefore, a much talked-about breakthrough into new horizons of quasi-modern plastic art has not taken place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses an exhibition of Antony Gormley's artwork at the Royal Academy. Gormley is a British sculptor known for his iconic works such as the Angel of the North. The exhibition showcases a variety of Gormley's sculptures, including figures made from casts of his own body and geometric accumulations resembling reclining or standing figures. The article also mentions Gormley's use of various materials and his engagement with the internal dynamics of materials. The exhibition features large-scale sculptures, woodcuts, and drawings, and includes Gormley's working notebooks. The author notes Gormley's focus on the male figure in his work and expresses a desire for a complementary dialogue. The exhibition concludes with a view of an empty space guarded against entry. Antony Gormley is a renowned British sculptor known for his public sculptures, including the Angel of the North. The author of the article, Nicholas Philip James, is an art historian and operator of The Gallery London. The article is published by Cv Publications. [Extracted from the article]

INTRODUCTION: The shopping street has become the center of economic activities in the city. It is the most popular place in the city, the soul of the shopping street, the reflection of history, culture, folklore, geographical features, and even the city. With the rapid development of the commercial environment, the landscape sculpture on the shopping street is also developing rapidly, and its share in the city construction is getting bigger and bigger. Landscape sculpture is the key to the whole shopping street, so it is vital to study the design of sculpture public art in commercial neighborhoods. OBJECTIVES: The study of commercial neighborhood sculpture public art through the method of cloud computing in order to improve the overall design level of China's commercial neighborhood sculpture public art, to improve the integration of the development of China's architecture and fine arts field, and secondly, the overall design study of commercial neighborhood sculpture public art can also better improve the overall development of China's tourism industry, and to promote the further enhancement of tourism art. METHODS: The related commercial and commercial street sculpture theory is discussed. Secondly, the computer technology of cloud computing is further applied in the research of the overall design of the sculpture public art in the commercial street area in order to enhance the informatization level of the overall design of the sculpture public art in the commercial street area, to better adapt to the development of the Internet era. Lastly, the data related to the tourists is calculated using big data technology. RESULTS: Significant in studying shopping street landscape sculpture. Starting from the research and interpretation theory of small and medium-sized shopping street sculpture, it analyzes the positioning and development of Shaanxi's shopping street sculpture. The purpose is to synthesize the aesthetic characteristics of some commercial street landscape sculptures in Shaanxi Province. Then, the design principles and artistic values of small and medium commercial streetscape sculptures are summarized. In addition, problems and suggestions for optimizing commercial streetscape sculpture in Shaanxi Province and the future development strategy of commercial streetscape sculpture in China are also discussed. CONCLUSION: Cloud computing and other computer technologies can better enhance the overall design level of commercial streetscape sculpture public art and promote the combination of fine arts and construction industry and the development of tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author shares his reflections about the relationship between the works of British sculptor Rachel Whiteread and the ambiguity between mourning and memory. Topics discussed include the representation of a young woman's breast, the specialization of Whiteread's works moving from an object to an object which contains space, and the discussion of memory, loss and mourning in Whiteread's public sculpture "House."

Much of the current scholarship on the art of China in the 1910s and 1920s focuses on artworks, art academies, and art groups that were associated either with traditional Chinese painting (guohua 國畫) or with oil painting (youhua 油畫). By contrast, other mediums such as sculpture have rarely been discussed by scholars of modern Chinese art. Similar to guohua , the association of which with lofty literati values and imperial eras was hotly debated at the beginning of the Republic of China (1912–1949), the art of sculpture – a category that has long been considered as funerary art, craft, or decorative art – and its relevance to modern China was also discussed by artists and intellectuals at that time. In early twentieth-century China, sculpture eventually gained a new status within the fine arts. This article argues that one important factor that promoted the changing perception of sculpture in the public sphere was the blossoming print culture and its connections with photography and exhibitions in Republican China. Print materials such as newspapers, newspaper supplements, pictorial magazines, and exhibition catalogs/pamphlets promoted the process of modernizing sculpture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Public Art is the property of Shanghai Fine Arts Publisher Ltd. co. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Journal of Art & Iconography / Sanat ve İkonografi Dergisi is the property of Ataturk University Coordinatorship of Scientific Journals and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Architecture & Life Journal / Kocaeli Üniversitesi Mimarlık ve Yaşam Dergisi is the property of Architecture & Life Journal / Kocaeli Universitesi Mimarllik ve Yasam Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The First Centenary of México Independence was raised in a lavish way mainly in Mexico City, the event was of such magnitude that to celebrate it was organized in advance the various celebrations that would take place, the inauguration of sculptures and public buildings was proposed, dances, popular festivals, civic-military parades were organized and foreign nations with which the country had diplomatic relations were invited. In this article we want to emphasize that, although in the city of Puebla the events did not have the same magnitude, despite these different commemorative acts were carried out that made the Angelopolis overflow. And one of the conclusions we have reached is that for this to happen it was essential the collaboration of the Puebla society and to a large extent of the foreigners, who participated actively, mainly the members of the Spanish and German Colony who shone by organizing different events that allowed them to demonstrate their economic power and their social influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including role of women in the nation-building project; desire for emigration and nostalgia that results in the sadness and combination of political propaganda and anthropological texts.

In public art, the paradigm is shifting from 'look but don't touch' towards interactive displays and creations that involve visitors. Accordingly, this study examined some of the factors that lead audiences to interact and engage with public art. Systematic observations of the 'users' of 11 public sculptures were conducted in Brisbane, Australia. The investigation revealed that the design features of public art are key to encouraging or deterring visitors. Interaction levels are higher on weekends than on weekdays whereas factors such as the time of day and the location of artworks (parkland, CBD, or neighbourhood) are less influential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Human Review is the property of Eagora Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article "Monuments Must Fall" explores the concept of monuments as symbols of social conflict and power dynamics. It discusses the discursive space surrounding public statues and the ways in which monuments are connected to larger systems of power. The perspectives of different individuals, including a Noongar curator, a Wiradjuri librarian, and a sociology professor, are included to emphasize the importance of reimagining collective values and the burden that monuments can place on memory. The text also discusses the invisibility and displacement of monuments in different contexts, as well as the contested nature of monuments and the need for their removal in certain cases. It suggests that after the removal of monuments, there should be an "afterlife" for them in the form of reparative memory sites hosted by archives. The text highlights the ongoing presence of structural racism and spatial injustice even after the removal of certain statues, and raises questions about the effectiveness of removing statues without addressing broader economic and political relationships. It concludes by calling for new narratives to challenge the power and influence of monuments. The text includes a series of images and footnotes that serve as visual and textual references for further exploration. [Extracted from the article]

Wasswa Donald Augustine a.k.a., Waswad (b. 1984), is a reanimator—taking materials derived from once living organisms and breathing new life into them through the creation of sculptures, installations, and two-dimensional works. He is among a number of artists working around the globe to consider a future where humans are transformed through technology and/or evolution into "transhumans." Exploring Waswad's practice, this article will situate his work within the context of transhumanist theories and their application within Africa. It will examine how the artist, inspired by current social, political, and economic events, is using his work to respond to the historical and contemporary impacts, both positive and negative, of technology to the lives and bodies of those on the African continent as well as the wider environment. The works of art that he creates refer directly to his experiences in Uganda and, more broadly, the hybrid technological and natural quality of his forms resonant with many global anxieties about the current changes going on in the world. This article examines how Waswad's exploration of new avenues for evolution asks us to consider the wider impacts of the Anthropocene age in which we are now living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explores the deteriorating condition of 'Paa Grant' outdoor concrete sculpture and provides a sculptor-conservator-restorer approach in handling the artwork by justifying the need for restoring the defects that have been ignored endlessly since its production. In this study, descriptive and studio-based methods constituted the form of mixed methods research design used. The unstructured interview and direct observation were the instrumentations used for the data collection. Data was analysed using descriptive and document review analysis tools. It was revealed that the 'Paa Grant' outdoor concrete sculpture had defects such as cracks and broken offs that caused spalling, delamination, corrosion of metals due to the prevalence of exposure to weathering conditions. The enhancement of restoration methods further boosted the concrete sculpture from further deteriorating. The maintenance culture of conservation and restoration practices on public sculptures in Ghana and beyond should be encouraged to establish any fault and forestall further deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]