• Night Lights in the City: A Contextual Preview of 2012’s Northern Spark Event

    Northern Spark revelers at the Walker Art Center

    American public art follows a slightly different trend trajectory than the kind you see in museums. In American public art, monuments and memorials paved the way for the Works Progress Administration, which set the example by commissioning more playful public works in the outdoor galleries of the 70s and 80s — like the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. A little over a decade ago, bedazzling a city with fiberglass cows or frogs or Peanuts characters was in vogue. Now we’ve transitioned into full Debordian spectacle, where such space-making involves lights, sound, and recognition of all attendees’ creativity through participation. When it’s not burdened by history and context, public art has always walked the line between ridiculous and marketable — and Northern Spark is no exception.

    Full story on MNArtists.org.

     

    July 7, 2013 / Deborah Carver

    Categories: Arts Writing