In our third edition, we look at one of the most ‘visible’ examples of public art in the city. A piece which is inaccessible for whatever may be the reason — location and content — is invisible. Not every public art may work but 19 sculptures — fashioned out of wood procured from fallen trees — at Cubbon Park do. The visitors to the historic park — government employees, picnicking families — are engaging with these objects spread all over. But these pieces — a seesaw made out of a log with apartments carved on one side and trees on the other, a caged-in tree, an installation of 200 stones in about 100 varieties, two headed animals, fish and others not just uplift the aesthetic quotient of the green space but also try to convey a message. “It is about the relentless cutting of trees and the shrinking of green area but the artists have also tackled other issues like farmer, politics etc. One of the most popular piece is a 30 feet high piece dealing with the conflict between power and farmer installed outside Vikas Souda,” says Shivaprasad. The art works resulted from a 15 day workshop organised by the Horticulture department in collaboration with the Karnataka Shilpakala Academy. The curator had engaged an interesting mix of 30 artists from art institutions across Karnataka like Baadal Nanjundaswamy of Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA), Mysore, sculptor Nagarathna Sahu, a fine arts teacher from Kalaburagi, CKP in Bengaluru and others for the purpose. Go spend a lazy afternoon there with a book!
(You can contribute too by telling us if you spot anything artsy, quirky and creative in a space that is accessible to all. Write to us at artquest@thehindu.co.in with the exact location and any other details you have and we will trace it. )
