Public Art Food Reproductions

[Carrot Top]

The city I live in has decided to implement a program of public art.

Public art has a way of curiously and starkly giving representation of the place it lives in.

The choice made by our city's leaders of what to spend some fairly good amount of money on - this choice that it has made to represent the city - is a series (some twenty of them, I believe - to be added on one by one as time goes by) of six foot

tall plastic turkeys. Shiny plastic turkeys to keep them nice. Hokie Bird turkeys. The Hokie Bird is unlike any turkey I've ever seen in reality or in pictures. It is bald and fat, particularly in the tummy area. The tummy area is shown well, as the bird stands on its hind two feet, with its wings clasped in a grandfatherly way around the front of the distended tummy. (Pot belly, really.) Its chest is rather shallow though large and naked, and the visage of the turkey does not do much in terms of reassuring one that any intelligence at all resides there.

These turkeys are to be all the same in shape and shininess - yet naturally as they are Art, they will be decorated (painted) differently so that everyone can admire the creativity that our city has to display as its public statement.

The first one was installed last week in front of the Town Hall on Main Street, close to the street so that nobody driving through would possibly be able to miss this wonder of artsiness, this ode to our culture. It is painted as if it were tie-dyed or alternately graffiti'd, in bright conflicting colors.

I would say "You really must see it!" but really, rather feel that instead, you probably should not if you value anything of beauty or indeed, have any aesthetic sense of things at all.

If you were a stranger driving through our town, without any knowledge that this turkey was not meant to be eaten but rather was a symbol of some really big boys playing ball, you definitely would think we grew turkeys here - that we wanted you to admire, buy and eat our turkeys.

And soon our town will be filled with a flock of lots of these birds.

As for me, suddenly the idea of a nice roast turkey dinner has gone the way that the idea of wearing disposable paper dresses went in the late 1960's. Forgotten, and good riddance.

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Does the place you live have any food sculptures or any public art that represents food? If so, what is it?

[JeanneCake]

My in-laws spend the summer on the coast of Maine and scattered through the city of Rockport are lobsters in various disguises (paint - none of them are the traditional red or mottled natural shell color) and poses to celebrate and promote the Lobster Festival. I haven't been there in a few years to know if they are still there, but they were fun to look for!

[Rebecca263]

At home in Miami we have Oops! by Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen. It's IMMENSE. And the orange peels are very intriguing to look at.

edited by me to add: We've got flamingoes instead of turkeys. All over Coral Gables. Some are OK, most are just kitsch, and not very good kitsch at that.

Edited February 21, 2006 by Rebecca263 (log)

[moosnsqrl]

Don't get me started! After somewhere (Zurich?) and Chicago had already done the fiberglass cow thing, along came the geniuses of KC. First of all, we can't quite decide if we want to embrace being a cowtown or try to shed the image, so there is always some civic inner-conflict about such things. But after two other cities had already gone down that path, it was really like beating a dead equine.

Most of the "real" artists refused to have anything to do with it (NOTE: I am not saying anyone who ever painted a cow is not a real artist so please don't flame me! I'm just saying that what appeared to be the majority of those who routinely show in galleries and museums about town declined to participate). I believe Hallmark, among other local businesses stepped-up and 'encouraged' some to take on the project so it didn't fall flat.

In the end, I think they did manage to auction most of them off and make some money for some cause (exactly what escapes me). So you still see them around town, but they're less visible now that they're privately owned).

Next came the teddy bears. But that was too awful to even talk about.

Nearby Lawrence KS did a 'parade' of Jayhawks (that noble, fictitious bird, mascot of the University of Kansas) and they were kind of fun because they were unique and relevant to the city.

[highchef]

we have 'gators on the geaux', and honestly, they're kind of cute, the good ones that is. A law firm has 'litagator', others are local mascots, bankers, angels even (ever seen a gator with wings?). My fav is the one encrusted with mardigras beads, it's very cool, very well done.

it is food related, gator is on most seafood menu's here ...at least the mom and pop's, including the convience store delis around the coast.

[azureus]

Does a building covered in food count? The Corn Palace in Mitchel, South Dakota is covered every year in murals made entirely of naturally colored corn kernels and various other grains and seeds. Iowa used to have at least two palaces, and I believe that Nebraska had one as well. The palaces were used to show off the wealth of local harvests. I think that it's pretty darn cool, and the ultimate way to play with your food.

Carrot Top, the fiberglass turkeys that you described are likely part of a recent civic fad. It started with cows in Zurich, Switzerland in 1998, and was copied by Chicago in 1999. The venture was so lucrative that various towns around the U.S. have started their own versions. Des Moines, Iowa had pigs. You can even purchase miniature plastic versions of the various animals. The large versions are usually auctioned off for charity after awhile, so your town will eventually be back to normal. But a turkey in front of town hall--truth in advertising? (No insult to turkeys intended!)

April

ETA: I see that I type to slow, and cross-posted with moosnsqrl!

Edited February 20, 2006 by azureus (log)

[patti]

Our town has Pelicans on Parade, so they're not really food related. Most of them are forgettable, but there's an Elvis pelican in a retro 50s diner that is pretty damn cute.

Edited to add: Here's one I've never seen before: Crawfish Pelican

Edited February 20, 2006 by patti (log)

[Sugarella]

I would say "You really must see it!" but really, rather feel that instead, you probably should not if you value anything of beauty or indeed, have any aesthetic sense of things at all.

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In the summer of 2000, we had hundreds of moose decorated throughout the city by various artists. Moose is considered food to some people so I guess this is still on topic, sort of, but of course moose isn't really served in Toronto. You can check them all out here:

http://www.toronto.ca/moose/moose_moosellaneous.htm

I'm sorry you're not really enjoying your city's art thus far, but we sure did enjoy ours. It depends on how you look at it, so give it some time. Good, enjoyable art really is the responsibility of the artist, so I hope your city commissions some who very enthusiastic, and who get the point that these scapes really are meant to make one stop and smell the roses in an otherwise hectic day, so to speak.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Ideally in keeping with the public food theme, Atlanta should have a whirling bucket of grits ..not unlike the old bucket of KFC ... but this is kind of interesting .. apparently it was in the Bronx last summer: click here to see this exhibit

Alejandro Diaz's A Can for All Seasons, a light-hearted take on public sculpture, celebrates the overlap between art and everyday life. Inspired by the practice in rural households of growing plants in empty grocery-store cans, he has created four sculptural reproductions of brand-name canned goods, each representing a different type of food that is indigenous to Mexico: corn, chiles, chocolate, and tomatoes. Enlarging them to the size of outdoor street planters, Diaz affectionately observes and celebrates the practice of "making do," of using something on hand to create an aesthetic object.

[Mayhaw Man]

In my town, at John Preble's fabulous UCM Museum, we have Buford the Bassigator

[moosnsqrl]

In my town, at John Preble's fabulous UCM Museum, we have Buford the Bassigator

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Now THAT is art! It reminds me of the Jackalope of postcard fame.

[Carrot Top]

I found another Oldenburg - in Minneapolis:

Skyline with Spoon

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For some reason, I keep remembering a giant teacup somewhere.

But of course that might just be from a Disney movie.

[highchef]

In my town, at John Preble's fabulous UCM Museum, we have Buford the Bassigator

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looks like a garfish! I've had close personal contact with a garfish, and if the fins were a little shorter it might could pass.

[Rebecca263]

...For some reason, I keep remembering a giant teacup somewhere.

But of course that might just be from a Disney movie.

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We've got a broken cup and saucer somewhere on South Beach, but I couldn't find any COA on it. At the Bass Museum's sculpture garden (on South Beach) there is a large fountain made of 'kitsch'enware, as well.

BTW, Monmouth County? Lots of parks, very little art in public places, unless you count the locals' shows at the libraries.

Edited February 21, 2006 by Rebecca263 (log)

[tsquare]

We had Pigs on Parade in 2001.

bringing home the bacon

[Carrot Top]

I keep on trying to write something in response to all these wonderful entrees but every time I try, the words get sort of jumbled up.

I guess the only thing that would be safe to say is that Mayhaw Man's submission looked exactly like a lizard-fish I caught one night fishing in the Florida Keys. No siree. You would not want to eat that thing, even if it was made into an etouffee.

But I could live happily gazing upon that Oldenburg apple!

[Carrot Top]

Here is one that is corporate rather than municipal: Legal Sea Foods Fish Sculpture

[lala]

We had Pigs on Parade in 2001.

bringing home the bacon

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Ah, the Pigs on Parade was truly great! The Pike Place Market has Rachel, the big bronze pig under the main Market clock. Rachel is an icon, landmark, and piggy bank - If you're meeting friends in the Market, you meet at "The Pig", and if you have spare change, you put it in Rachel to help fund the low income medical clinic. Thousands of tourists have photos of themselves perched on her back.

The Pigs on Parade was a fantastic assortment of Rachel's fiberglass offspring, decorated by local artists. They were auctioned off for charity after the Parade and showing. UPS gave away little plastic pigs, (Here I pat mine, sitting on my desk).

They saved extra pigs and now they get decorated up as reindeer and put on the rooftops of the Market at Christmas, red one in front, pink ones following, tethered together with garlands of white lights and evergreen halos. Bizarre and completely Seattle!

Edited February 22, 2006 by lala (log)