The only reason art and artists are perceived as liberal by outsiders is because most, if not many successful artists succeed by shocking the values of the ever-lowering middle classes by either taking the mundane and turning it “inside out” or extrapolating on the common (many stop signs! Zowie!).
Problem is, that like capital, it must continually seek new markets and, in arts case, these “markets to crack open” are the sensibilities of what we’ll call “hillbillies”, or if you like, “rubes”. So art has to constantly titillate – much like reality television.
And therein is what truly pisses me off about art.

It’s about as political as a half eaten sandwich. Since it necessarily follows the path of enticement and provocation, it parallels much of
what other elitist pastimes do – which is keep people *AWAY* from personal political engagement.
As a result, art and it’s professional practitioners and gatekeepers remain exceptionally elitist and as deeply conservative as the wealthy. It’s purpose is to engage the commons only as a curiosity piece, or a pile of doo-dads that “get’s ‘em talking” – which is remarkably similar to the concept of branding – isn’t it?

Art long ago passed any relevance to the experiences of the impoverished or the socially outcast – because no “artist” worth their salt (or considering a career in the field) would *dare* to step into the breech of making an overt political statement. No – these cowards and sycophants slather their artist statements in leftist hyperbole and drivel so dense any interpretation is possible – excepting an attack on the freshly pedicured hand that feeds them.

When do we get to see a giant installation of a hypodermic needle awash in blood in the downtown eastside? Or how about a giant facsimile of a government tax rebate lighting up Point Grey?

Yeh. I wonder…

I’m just telling you how it really is CW, so the next time you hear why art’s so “necessary”, you can be assured they’re talking about educating *you* – and keeping your eyes off the voters ballot while they’re doing it.

I for one never had the opportunity to advance my education, though coming from an artisticly inclined family I have developed a great love of art. As for some of the concerns herein I reply thusly; As seen in Sungsu’s pics, the art piece is on a hill and not exactly prime space for sporting events or otherwise; as for its potential for beauty and it’s esthetic appeal, not my cup of tea and I could even see the stop sign aspect of it confusing many of us, especially tourists. I guess it’s one way to get someone to pay attention to something and I’m sure kids and tourist will both enjoy either playing around it or hanging off it getting their pictures taken; yes the local residence should have been notified (though not consulted) prior to its erection, but on the same note, it looks real easy to dismantle if they do raise a big stink, not that it isn’t TEMPORARY and FREE thanks to the Biennale; why not use local artists you say, well that is a good point as there is no real cultural aspect to this particular display, perhaps in the future someone like the Biennale or the City could hold a contest for locals (not just pro’s and students) to design such pieces, some culturally significant, others not so; if such a piece were permanent I would like to see accountability prior to instillation and, as L stated, it would be nice for it to be Canadiana art, or at least something gifted and of cultural significance, with relation concerning where it was from and where it was to be placed.

Regardless of any of our personal feelings, it is likely that tens of thousands of photos will be taken of this display in the next half year, which essentially is why it’s probably there as most camera touting tourists like to shoot a pic every twenty feet or so.

I would lastly personally like to thank the posters herein who did their best to show both the positive and negative aspects of this topic (or at least tried to remain communicative) rather than seemingly just striking out rashly and in spite.

A number of cities worldwide have put out calls for artists to submit proposals for pieces that are both bicycle parking and public art. I love this idea. When there are no bikes, it still looks cool. And the state of bicycle parking in Vancouver is abysmal, really really poor, terrible policy-making.
I want Vancouver to follow suit. I’d like the criteria to include that each bike parking/art piece should have a sense of humour… and maybe that it be reflective in some way of the specific block or location in the city.

See hon, I think the “art crowd” needs to get a little dirty now and then. I think it needs a sweetly swung, state run truncheon upside the head before it begins to actually relate to those lumpen proletariat it loves to identify with in those ever-so-useless theses it pumps out.
Til then, to me, they’re all “Marxist’s” until the cheque clears.

I want art types to try some installations in a strip mall in Surrey. Show us your “institutional critiques” at a Tim Hortons in Whalley, at a Home Hardware parking lot in Abbotsford, or at a bus stop in Cloverdale.
*That’s* the crowd to win over honey.
Not me.

I get the “talk” Stephanie. (It never ends)
But I don’t see the walk.

And I don’t see any of those precious little darlings breaking out of the inbred environs of the moderately cosmopolitan city centre that is Vancouver.
Because you and I both know – that to break “art” out of the carefully cultivated, rigorously enforced atmosphere and its wholly class (and hence, geographical) based delineations, is CERTAIN DEATH for the artist who would dare it.
Career and (ever so more importantly) social-status ending. Ruination for anyone who dares to invite the great unwashed inside its doors.

Not one of them has the guts or the courage to take “art” where it can be disparaged using plain language. Take your art out to the sticks where it can be described in local Op/Ed’s as “bullshit” or spray painted with “Grad ’10″ – then I might consider the field of art as fundamentally invested in society.
Cuz’ that would mean they’ve actually ENGAGED the community!
Top-down, bureaucratically installed art pieces make that precious art crowd nothing more than what I’ve indicated in my above comment.

Facile, subservient-to-the-vested-interests types.

And that *old* crack, dear, sweet Steph… that wouldn’t be the smell of age-ism on your breath, would it?

My name is Gillian and I am the Communications Liaison for the Vancouver Biennale.
Just thought I would give you some information about us.
We are a non-profit organization with three staff members and no tax payers money is used for our installations.
By September 29th (our launch date) we will have 19 sculptures installed and by May 2010 around 32 will be placed in Vancouver and Richmond. The Vancouver Biennale includes New Media and Performance Art as well as a speaker series with Charles Jencks and Ma Jun. We will also hold a series of curotorial lectures for those of you who are interested in becoming curators, or are just interested!
At the moment we have Michael Zheng’s stop signs installed and Vladas Vildziunas ‘Barbora’ at Thorton Park (opposite Main Station). This week, and at the beginning of next week, we are installing pieces by two Chinese artists, Jianhua Liu’s ‘Pillows’ and Wang Shugang’s ‘Meeting’ at Cardero Park (next to the Westin Bayshore Hotel) and Harbour Green Park (opposite the float planes).
Thank you for all your thoughts and keep an eye open for more of our work!

Gillian and all the staff at the Biennale office

Love both of them, by the way, and I recall that both of them wrote in ways that were antithetical to the artist’s statement wankery Larry is railing against.

I wonder: does anyone have an opinion about the piece itself, other than “it’s garbage” or “it unduly obstructs my children’s Frisbee games”?

Anyway, my take on the stop signs was literal — to me it said ‘STOP, please stay off the grass’.

Anyway, I’m sure you’ll be glad to know that the government arts teat has suddenly shriveled by 40% at the federal and provincial levels, thanks in no small part to those goofs in the financial sector making a bit of a mess of things. The cultural industries employ millions of people across the country and collectively account for the 2nd highest GDP in our economy, but that didn’t stop these deep cuts to help mitigate the billions thrown at the leeches in the auto industry. Thank god we saved a few thousand obscenely paid factory jobs in Southern Ontario!

And you’ll be tickled pink to hear that the Libs have frozen BC Gaming funds for months now, sending many of the local arts sector’s companies into cash flow crisis. Ballet BC is only the largest of hundreds of organizations that are fighting off bankruptcy right now. It’s too bad the taxpayers will have to fund all the employees that end up on pogey, though.

So it got me thinking: maybe those 10 pink stop signs are part of a government-funded corporate conspiracy to send out the public message: STOP ALL ART!

It makes sense. Fish farms, Run of River projects, forest tenures, PPP infrastructure developers, agriculture, transit companies, you name it, they all suck at the government teat in one way or another, but I don’t hear you whining about corporate managers’ sense of entitlement, elitism, or insularity. Why is that?

And I don’t think I’ve ever read breaking news about an arts group’s ludicrous executive salaries and bonuses, or massive environmental contamination caused by a gallery opening, or scientific researchers issuing dire warnings against creativity and free expression being harmful for the human body and brain. Those lazy gadabouts in the arts can’t do anything right!

Just think, dangerous left-wing radicals like Mozart, Michelangelo and Shakespeare would have been nobodies if they didn’t have patrons. The Medicis, Rennies, Foundations and Arts Councils of this world should just wake the f*ck up and realize the grave danger they pose to the free market, mass production, and the corporatization of every last speck of dust on the planet.

So help spread the word: STOP ALL ART!

Together, we can make the world a better place for multinational corporations.