THE HARMONIOUS DEVELOPMENT OF

CITY SCULPTURE AND CITY CULTUREBY ROGER McFARLANE .BFA

PreambleThe subject of public sculpture is an interesting area toinvestigate and talk about. Sculpture has been used by society for a multitude of purposes through out history. Rulers have used images of themselves and their deeds, both real and imagined, for propaganda purposes. Just think of the ancient Greeks, Assyrians, Egyptians and Roman rulers for some prime examples. Religious sculptureand images are the even older than organised society. Commemorative sculptures such as war memorials and historical events have been celebrated in bronze, marble and stone in all societies.Modern society still uses sculpture for all the purposes listed above but with city beautification and place making equally important. On culture, Culture is something that’s hard to pinpoint and define.Every city and town has its own culture and personality; this is created by a mix of geography, history and economics. Culture is something that evolves by circumstances and is not easily created. Culture is shared experiences and the manner in which we communicatewith each other. We share ideas and explore possibilities. Culture grows naturally but cannot be forced to be something alien to the group norms. There is no easy way to buy or accumulate culture, as culture defies planning and organising. Culture in fact is fragile and easily killed of by overzealous planning and attempts to control and guide.The area that I will talk about is the state of public sculpture in Australia with some references to my home town of Newcastle, New South Wales Australia.

AN OVERVIEW OF ART IN AUSTRALIAAustralia has an indigenous population with a history going back over 40,000 years overlayed with a western European history of settlement of 220 years. This creates

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a dichotomy of thought in Australian society. European Australians think of an Australia as a young country, while it’s indigenous peoples think of Australia as an ancient society with the longest continuous language and culture in the world.The aboriginal hunter gathers did not build monuments or cities and towns, but were nomadic and followed game and fruits with the seasons. The reason for this was that Australia has no indigenous grains such as rice, wheat, and corn capable of being farmed. Herd animals such as cattle did not exist in Australia. However the aboriginals had their famous rock art, oral history and dream time legends which gave them a sense of community and culture which was relevant to their location. This long history has been used to good effect by aboriginal artists. Aboriginal artists are Australia’s most successful arts group. Their style is unique and recognised the world over. Out of respect for their culture, European Australians do not use the aboriginal’sstyle of art.

Rock Art Kakadu Northern Territory(Image 1)

Our short western history was one of relative isolation with a strong British influence. The rapid advances of communications post World War II; meant that Australians artists become exposed to international trends before a fully fledged arts identity was fully formed. These outside trends were fully embraced by our arts community,and were seen as a breath of fresh air into a somewhat stagnant art scene.

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Modern communications mean that ideas and movements in art can become international before they become national.What we all have now in is a transnational or Global style of art with trends from New York, London and Berlinsetting trends not only for us in Australia but for artists world wide. Cultural imperialism is a by product of a shrinking world.However, on the upside we interpret this external input with our own cultural and historical perspective. What Australian artists have done is what artists world wide have done, and that is pick and choose what is relevant and make art for our own community and culture.

PUBLIC ART IN AUSTRALIAPublic art is always a cause for controversy and discussion. It is impossible to satisfy all tastes and opinions, both informed and uniformed. Australians have always been pragmatic people with a no nonsense attitude of getting to the nub of the issue and solving problems. So when it comes to art, particularly public art then getting consensus is always an issue. Australia has a long history of public debate of art issues. I believe that it is better for the art to be argued about than ignored.Moving on to public art at a local level;I should at this point give you a quick sketch of Newcastle my home town. Newcastle is Australia’s second oldest city. Historically Newcastle was a steel mill citywith coal mines and heavy manufacturing. It is still referred to throughout Australia as a Steel City althoughwe lost our steel mills and heavy industry about 10 yearsago. When we had more people attending the University of Newcastle than going to the steel works each day, we werestill the Steel City.Newcastle has the best Art collection outside a capital city. In the city’s collection are not only Australian painters and sculptors but a fine collection of bronzes by Rodin. The city is trying to redefine our reputation and move on from the past. Capitalising on our pristine beaches

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and local beauty spots, and our proximity to the Hunter Valley Vineyards is a priority.

The fundamental questions are being asked by the citizensare.

Why do we have public art, and what is its purpose? Will this art bring a monetary return to the city?

Public art in a city is used not only to beautify the city environment as well as create a sense of uniqueness.A city with a large amount of public art can make the claim to be a cultured city. A city where the residents are seen to be more cultured and refined, who appreciate the finer things in life. This can bring economic advantage, as it makes it easier for the city to attract new industries, and a place where specialist employees and executives would be happy to relocate to. The creation of a sophisticated ambience cannot be underestimated. The city would also have a tourist attraction advantage.

Should the money be spent on more practical items such as roads and drainage?

The practical requirements of life will always compete with the intellectual view of our city environment. We all in fact need art and good roads, drainage, schools and Hospitals. However none of these requirements are mutually exclusive.

Who will pay for this art work?This always a vexed question, as no group wants to believe that they are being disadvantaged by another group receiving its funding. Minor funding for art comes from Federal, State and Local Government.The Arts Policy set by Newcastle City Council was an innovative policy which was used by other City councils as a template for their arts programs.The policy covers areas such as rates of pay for artists,commissioning, copyright and moral rights, along with maintenance. There is never enough money for a major amount of publicart to be funded. In my city of Newcastle a levy called

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percentage for art is charged on major building projects that are funded by the city council. The levy is 1% of the cost of new buildings over one million dollars in value. Private property developers can gain generous building space allowances if they incorporate public art into the new development projects. The policy is a good policy but has become overly bureaucratic. This has led to a range of small scale sculptures that are multifunctional. In fact art that has to work for a living.We have items in the city that are made by artists, but equally should function without the input of an artist, for example

A Drop in the Ocean, Braddon Snape 2005

This children’s playground is sculptural in form and designed by Braden Snape a very competent and well respected artist. The playground/sculpture is meant to represent our maritime history. The kids love it, but is this a public sculpture?

Another example is the work of the sculptor Sandra Minter-Caldwell. The bronze figures form a safety rail around a sewer ventilation outlet. The description of thesculpture given by the artist, relates the immigration ofpeoples to Australian from the four compass points North,South, East and West.

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‘Evolution 1’

Sandra Minter-Caldwell ‘1998’

The figures although male, do not have any genitalia, as the council thought that genitalia may be offensive to some. This gives the figures a bizarre androgynous appearance. We have many similar examples of this conceptof working sculptures throughout the city. These are the obvious effect of a bureaucratic approach to art which distorts the whole public art process. When the Bureaucrats supply all of the funding they have too much control of the selection and design process

‘Foundation Seed’

This successful sculpture by John Turier, “Foundation Seed is a conceptually strong monument to the city as a whole. It takes its visual references from the working nature of our harbour and the industrial forms that evokeour recent past alongside the botanic and feminine forms of the seed pod and leaf, referencing a history prior to European settlement. The leaf component is a wind driven,and changes direction with the wind. John Turier’s designwas selected by a Committee made up of members from

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Council’s Public Art Advisory Committee and The City-WestPrecinct Committee. Funding for the project came from theState Government and the City West Precinct Committee. The work is intended to act as a marker or gateway to thecity centre”1. This is a fine sculpture however the location on a traffic island with limited visibility detracts from the overall effect. The location was selected by a council officer.

. The city of Newcastle also has a large number of commemorative sculptures dotted around the city. Of them all the most successful is the ‘James Cook Memorial Fountain’ designed by Margel Hinder and installed in 1966. This fountain is acknowledged as one of the finest civic fountains in Australia. The fountain was controversial at the time, but now is a much loved city icon.

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? Turning Spaces into People Paces. NCC bookletWeb page, www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au/go/publicart

?Sculpture by the Seawww.sculpturebythesea.com

Recommended readingEssay, Flourishing in a RuralGardenMarcus WestburyGrifith Review 20 Cities on the Edgewww.grifithreview.com

Web page for Australian Artthis has a wealth of information relating to Australian Art

http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/articles/sculpture/

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The fountain has in fact been incorporated into the cities logo. The logo references the spray patterns of the fountain. The fountain is a popular venue for weddingphotos and picnics in the park

One of the more successful ways of promoting sculpture isthe Symposium concept. Most of these have been artist generated and organised, with some necessary support fromlocal government. Corporate sponsorship has provided the major funding. The advantage of the symposium model has been that the artists maintain some control of the selection process. The main advantage is that the residents of the community have become involved and they have a sense of ownership of the completed works which they have watched them being made. I will just reference two symposiums, one creating permanent sculpture, the other a temporary exhibition. Promotion of Sculpture via Sculpture symposiumsA town or city can promote its cultural credentials by staging a sculpture symposium.This has been used to positive advantage by several townsand cities in Australia and also overseas.The outback town of Broken Hill in Western New South Wales had a sculpture symposium in 1993. The artists worked in the local stone out in the desert. The sculptures are in the ‘Living Desert Reserve’ and was organised by the artist Lawrence Beck. Broken Hill is an isolated mining town which has a strong artistic reputation. Broken Hill is the home of the painters movement known as’ The Brush Men of the Bush’. Its leaderPro Hart is a renowned painter of outback scenes.

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The sculptures have had a positive financial benefit for the city. The sculpture symposium features on almost all Broken Hills promotional material. The symposium has beena very successful marketing tool for the town.

Sculpture by the Sea is Australia’s premier sculpture exhibition. The exhibition has been held annually since 1997. The symposium is brain child of artist David Handley, who thought that the people of Sydney would enjoy seeing sculpture in an out door setting. The sculpture is set up on the coast walk between Bondi and Tamarama .The first exhibition only ran for only several days however which 25,000 people came to see it.

Kaoru MatsumotoCycle –90°, a premonition

Since then it has gone from strength to strength and now runs for 3 weeks and has a significant number of international artists attending. The symposium has in excess of 200 outdoor and indoor sculptures on temporary exhibition. In 2007 over 500,000 people visited the exhibition.2

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SCULPTURE PRIZESSculpture prizes have had a big impact in bring sculptureto the fore. The resultant publicity in all the media hashelped in raise awareness of sculpture. Sculpture prizes are frequently held in various cities throughout Australia. Launched in 2000 the ‘Helen Lempriere Award’ for sculpture has reinvigorated contemporary sculpture in Australia. The award is Australia’s richest annual art prize. The prize for sculpture is $155,000 dollars. HelenLempriere was Australia’s leading female artist in the mid 20th century. She was known for her painting, printmaking and sculpture. This perpetual prize is highlyvalued both by sculptors and the public.

The other major prize in Australian sculpture is the National Sculpture Prize.The National Sculpture Prize wasestablished in 2000 as a partnership between the NationalGallery of Australia and the Macquarie Bank Foundation tosupport and promote Australian sculpture. Held every two years, it is one of the most prestigious awards for contemporary art in Australia, with a prize of $50,000 for the winning entry. The 2005 National Sculpture Prize attracted a record 636 entries; and was one of the National Gallery of Australia’s most popular exhibitions.

In conclusion, I would have to say that the state of sculpture and culture in Australia is strong and growing stronger. The capital cities because of the wealth and population have an advantage over smaller towns. This variance does not preclude smaller towns making a name for them selves in the art world.

The way forward for the harmonious development of city sculpture and city culture is to allow grass roots up development of the process. The flowering of creativity is easily crushed by over attention as it is by neglect. When the support of the local population is behind the concept and take the work to heart; the sculpture will beembraced and welcomed.

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References and reading material

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