Spotlight: Carmichael Collective’s Urban Plant Tags
We know what a lamp post is, but how often do we give it a second thought? What if it wasn’t there? Too often do we take for granted the objects that help or hinder our environments— the Carmichael Collective’s Urban Plant Tags aim to exhibit these everyday street items in a new light. Check the rest out here!
Projects by PAFP: RCAH Mural
Murals, if you haven’t yet partaken in one, take a lot of work! PAFP has been slowly, but surely, working on a mural for the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities this semester. Pictured above is both the original/vandalized mural done in 2008, and the base-coat for the next mural (expected to be completed in June of 2012). Having learned from the previous, PAFP hopes to integrate some form of public involvement with this mural, alongside further education on ideas in placemaking. We’ll keep you posted on what comes next!
Spotlight: FIT
Freie Internationale Tankstelle, an organization based in Germany, is working to reclaim filling stations as spaces for public art. Working with multiple curators around the world, FIT aims to engage with communities in creating artworks of all mediums—social sculptures that integrate art into a public’s everyday life. Seems to fit right alongside the filling station in Lansing, highlighted in PAFP’s Place Staking documentary! For more information regarding FIT, check out their site by clicking the above image.
PAFP Recommends these Reads:
The Art of Placemaking:
This account, unlike many of the recommended reads, takes the form of a textbook. As a result, though, Ronald Lee Fleming’s work stays well structured and provides ample information on works that have contributed to their site and vise versa from the years 1995-2005. Not only are the descriptions of each work well formed, but in each there lies a section for the design’s impact. PAFP also appreciates The Art of Placemaking’s broad definition of public art, including street lamps, staircases and carousels in their discussion of what artworks contribute to their site. Not a light read, but certainly a fine contribution to literature on public art for placemaking.
Public Art By The Book:
Edited by Barbara Goldstein, Public Art By The Book is exactly how it sounds. Also an often dense read, it provides almost everything one would need to know about on how to run a public art organization. It provides descriptions of how many prominent organizations run, including both Creative Time and the Public Art Fund, while also discussing general aspects of an organization of this nature including topics ranging from maintenance to funding to record keeping. If you’re looking to start up a organization involving Public Art, this is the book for you.
Projects by PAFP: Place Staking
Above is a video documenting PAFP’s and The Alliance for Creative Students’ Place Staking event. While the turn out was low, the discussions that we had and the temporary monuments that were placed along Michigan Avenue made up for that!
