July 2, 2016
Up the street is a small public park where people walk their dogs and play with their kids in a forest of redwoods. To everyone’s delight there appeared a little hobbit door on one of the trees some time back, soon surrounded by toy trolls brought by secret Santas. Then there were two, a row of little windows higher up on another tree. We could all just see the little kids joyfully finding the surprise. Now these carefully constructed and lovingly painted doors are sprouting throughout the park, as of last count seven or eight, and I, for one, am starting to get annoyed because I feel like I’ve landed in some miniature golf course or theme park instead of nature.
We know, of course, that people have a tendency to beautify and structure their environments. Yarn bombers are a case in point. They knit and crochet their merry ways across the landscape – sometimes creating beautiful work that really brightens the sidewalks, sometimes annoying public artists because their metal sculptures regularly end up with scarves…. (the oldest of the street knitters being 104 years old.http://www.boredpanda.com/grandmother-yarn-bomb-uk-souter-stormers-knitting-104-year-old-grace-brett/.) Sometimes the police takes down work that took months to complete for traffic safety and eventually, where do you find these creations? In art museums! Here was one interesting project at the Tate http://knitthecity.com/2012/10/09/half-sick-of-stitching/ .
I wonder when the line is crossed from novelty to nuisance, from craft to art.
The photographs of Orly Genger’s work Red, Yellow and Blue were taken in Madison Square Park, NY in 2013. She weaves and paints and constructs these sculptures to fit particularly environments. Their beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Which cannot be said for the following scenario, just now happening in Berlin Tegel. The wall painting, showing a blood covered girl and an impaled man, is upsetting the neighbors including a daycare center for young children who look at it from their playground. They are trying to have it removed, but by what legal means given private ownership? I guess, I should be grateful for little hobbit doors after all.
