Do you actually know how many pieces of artwork exist within your neighbourhood? Art in public space — at least that’s what I’d consider a fairly good translation of the german „Kunst im öffentlichen Raum“ — is everywhere and it seems to be doomed to be forgotten quickly.
The more often I walk through the streets of this city, the more artwork I discover. Some are very visible and easy to recognise, such as the lenses in KW 36/14 or the „KR“ in Neujahr/15, others are less visible or too unexceptional to be easily recognised as artwork, for example the memorial in KW 43/14 or the temple in KW 47/14, and others are hidden so well that barely anyone recognises them as being a piece of art.
Today, I took some photographs over at the Police headquarters and found myself within reach of three significant pieces of art: A well about 40 m to the east, a relief about 50 m to the west and the building of the Police headquarters itself about 30 m to the north. And there are plenty more around, these were just three that are comparably easy to spot. And I certainly could have spotted more if I would have been looking for them…
On my way home, I spotted some more and this makes me wonder how it may be in other cities, in other countries. Is it only Germany where art in public places is a common sight or is it everywhere the same? And how aware of art in public places are other people, especially photographers (who tend to be on a constant quest for new shots)? How is publicly displayed art being dealt with in your neighbourhood?
Use the comment section below if you want to tell me about the situation wherever you live.
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