Artworks step out of museum

“Tree... #2” (2011) from Lee Myoung-ho's “Tree Abroad” series / Courtesy of Yossi Milo Gallery, New York

By Kwon Mee-yoo

In October 2014, a giant, 19-meter-tall yellow rubber duck sculpture floated on Seokchon Lake in southern Seoul. The "Rubber Duck," created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, soon became Seoulites’ favorite character. More than 5 million people came to see it. The popular inflatable duck left the lake after the prearranged dates, but it left "skin" behind. Design group Fabrikr up-cycled the yellow polyvinyl chloride used for the duck to make rocking chairs and bags.

More and more artists bring their work outside the museum and Hofman's Rubber Duck is a good example of public art, which is exhibited at a public space and readily available for a wide audience.

Public art has a wide range of diversity, just as contemporary art does. It could be colored sheer, ethereal material hanging over a river ("1.26 Amsterdam" by Janet Echelman); a litter-strewn seashore with garbage collected from the six continents ("Washed Up" series by Alejandro Duran); or a luminous moon sculpture displayed outdoor including the Arctic ("Private Moon" by Leonid Tishkov).

Some of the works get completed when visitors participate in them. Robert Barta's 2011 artwork "Crossing Half a Million Stars" has some 500,000 ball bearings covering the gallery floor and visitors have to move around to balance and walk on the fluctuating ground, becoming spontaneous performers.

Unexpected Art / Courtesy of Chronicle Books

Many of these public artworks are short-lived. Most of them pop up for a limited engagement and then are gone for good. Public art does not go into a private art collection, but remains in the memory of everyone who saw, took part in or enjoyed the artwork. San Francisco-based Jenny Moussa Spring compiled a delightful collection of public art titled "Unexpected Art," published by Chronicle Books.

The history of public art dates back to the early 20th century. Independent curator Christian L. Frock addresses an important characteristic of public art ― being site-specific. A site has physical details such as depth, length, height, shape and walls, as well as is embedded with social histories, both civic and private. While environmental art and land art are engaged closely with nature, site-specific art could be for interior spaces as well.

"Site-specific artworks evolve as a way for artists to address shifting politics and to assert autonomy within challenging conditions," Frock wrote.

The context of the place is essential to understand a site-specific work, which means it cannot be relocated without abandoning a part of its integrity. So site-specific public art can shift perceptions, sometimes even long after they are gone.

Christopher M. Lavery's "Cloudscape" was installed at the Denver International Airport from 2008 to 2010. The pink cloud-shaped sculpture called to mind "the great plains of Colorado, echoing old farm windmills, drilling rigs and water storage towers."

Korean photographer Lee Myoung-ho challenged the idea of nature and manmade by setting a large white canvas behind a tree and taking a photo of it. He flattened the existence of the three-dimensional tree, questioning the reenactment of art.

Though difficult or abstruse sometimes, there is no need to be scared away from public art as its primary goal is to provide pleasure for the viewers.

Hofman, who wrote a preface for the book, said, "Art doesn't always have to be difficult; you don't have to sweat to understand it. It can be a work that is all about relating, where we are all free to watch and investigate and discover. My sculptures don't change reality. They reveal what is already there and make you part of it."

The book was translated into Korean and published by Artbooks.