Johnson certainly sounded enthusiastic enough when he claimed that the work “encapsulates the dynamic mix of history and the contemporary that makes London such an exciting cultural capital”. “There is no way that something that plays with Wall Street in this fashion would ever be approved under the auspices of the mayor.” “The reason I thought it would not be accepted was that I knew what would have happened in New York,” explains the 78-year-old German born artist, who has lived and worked in Manhattan for the last 50 years. The work could be read in many ways, but few people would miss the implied critique of the relationships between power, money, art, privilege and history – the project, backed by the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was to be sited outside the National Gallery during a period of unprecedented financial speculation in art. ![]() However, the project did appeal to him and he set about working up an idea for a 13ft-high sculpture of a horse skeleton cast in bronze, which would be finished off with a digital-display ribbon tied around a foreleg, like a bow on a present, which would show live prices from the London stock exchange. Museums have, Haacke believes, a responsibility “to serve the purpose for which they were built in the first place” and not engage in self-censorship that might stop them showing challenging art.When the artist Hans Haacke was asked to submit a proposal for a statue to occupy the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, his initial reaction was that it was a “good joke” to invite him but there was no way his work would be accepted. The artist is a passionate advocate of public galleries, and is deeply suspicious of the of influence corporate sponsorship, warning against back-door privatisation. ![]() Haacke himself admits surprise at being invited to submit work for the project, which he says is a fantasic idea: “that’s a brilliant use of an empty plinth, to have an occupation force take over”, and says the range of work previously chosen “is not really driven by what you might generally dismiss as the market.” He never stints himself in terms of speaking out, and I think he expects other people to do the same.” Occupation force Mr Serota gave credit to the mayor for not only commissioning the work, but unveiling it during an election period: “I think Boris is a mayor who really believes in freedom of expression. Unveiling the statue that he had commissioned as part of the ongoing Fourth Plinth Commission project, London Mayor Boris Johnson told Channel 4 News that he thought the horse commemorated the vital importance of transport in a great urban infrastructure. However, despite his stated desire to let people make up their own mind about what his statue might signify, Haacke says “if they understand it in the opposite way to what I hoped for, then I would be upset”. “Very often people get elected by those who are getting screwed all the time … Often they don’t understand that they elect people who don’t have their best interests at heart,” he told Channel 4 News. ![]() Hans Haacke believes that in 2015 politicians around the world often do not act with the best interests of the electorate at heart, and urges against complacency, warning: “you’re shooting yourself in the foot if you don’t get involved and be active.” The title of the work, “Gift Horse”, says Haacke: “alludes to the discrepancy between the style in which this horse appears, and the ribbon with which it is presented as a gift.” Yet attached to the front foreleg is a gift ribbon, showing a scrolling video display of London stock market data. Inspired by the work of the artist George Stubbs, who painted the English gentry with their horses, he has produced a bronze steed that is twice lifesize, in keeping with the massive scale of the 1843 equestrian statue of King George IV that stands on one of the other Trafalgar Square plinths. It’s clearly about the fragility of power systems and the state Nicholas Serota, Tate gallery director Artist Hans Haacke told Channel 4 News that he did not want “to give an overall explanation at all.”īut the German-American artist, who has spent a lifetime producing art that exposes and questions the links between art, money and power, believes inequality is one of the major issues of our time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |