Can a Mickey Mouse stop being a Mickey Mouse and start being public art? This is the basic question that has recurred for me over the last few years of City of Chicago sponsored fiberglass public sculpture projects beginning in 1999 with ‘cows on parade’, when 322 ‘artist decorated’ life size cows were scattered throughout tourist centered areas of the city. The ‘CowParade’ brand of public art has spread to over 30 cities all over the world, spreading the gospel of ‘fun’ and ‘accessible’ public art. Pascal Knapp originally produced the blank cow template, and the Cowparade Holdings Corporation (the group who founded and manages the projects) is involved in collaborating with various local governments to solicit artists to decorate the cows. Corporations are invited to sponsor a cow, which means one of two things:
(1) The company pays for the artist to produce original decoration for the cow
(2) The company pays for the artist to decorate the cow with a design of their choosing.
Archive for the ‘Profiles’ Category
Public Art In The Daley Village
Posted in Profiles, tagged Chicago, Housing, Polvo, Public Housing, Public Space, Urban Planning on March 20, 2005 | Leave a Comment »
PLATFORM PROJECTS – Fall 2004 – Clamor Magazine
Posted in Profiles, tagged Clamor Magazine, Mike Wolf, Mute Magazine, Political Art Documentation/Distribution, Political Graphics, Rini Templeton on October 26, 2004 | Leave a Comment »
PLATFORM PROJECTS Projects helping projects helping projects By Daniel Tucker Originally Published in Clamor Magazine Issue 29, 2004 Michael Wolf admits that what he does is essentially the same thing that everyone else does. Informally sharing resources among family and friends is something that most people do just to survive, cut costs, or save space. [...]
