Les Deux Plateaux

The Palais-Royal, originally called the Palais-Cardinal, is a palace located in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre. The larger inner courtyard, the Cour d'Honneur, has since 1986 contained Daniel Buren's site-specific art piece Les Deux Plateaux, known as Les Colonnes de Buren. In 1830 the Cour d'Honneur was enclosed to the north by what was probably the most famous of Paris's covered arcades, the Galerie d'Orléans. Demolished in the 1930s, its flanking rows of columns still stand between the Cour d'Honneur and the popular Palais-Royal Gardens.

In this photo, you are looking at Les Deux Plateaux (more commonly known as the Colonnes de Buren). It is a highly controversial art installation created by the French artist Daniel Buren in 1985–1986. It is located in the inner courtyard (Cour d'Honneur) of the Palais Royal in Paris, France. As described by the architectural writer Andrew Ayers, "Buren's work takes the form of a conceptual grid imposed on the courtyard, whose intersections are marked by candy-striped black-and-white columns of different heights poking up from the courtyard's floor like sticks of seaside rock. In one sense the installation can be read as an exploration of the perception and intellectual projection of space." The work replaced the courtyard's former parking lot and was designed to conceal ventilation shafts for an underground extension of the culture ministry's premises. Some of the columns extend below courtyard level and are surrounded by pools of water into which passersby toss coins. The project was the "brainchild" of the culture minister Jack Lang and elicited considerable controversy at the time. It was attacked for its cost and unsuitability to a historic landmark. Lang paid no attention to the orders of the Commission des Monuments Historiques, which objected to the plan. In retrospect Ayers has remarked: "Given the harmlessness of the result (deliberate — Buren wanted a monument that would not dominate), the fuss seems excessive, although the columns have proved not only expensive to install, but also to maintain.

More importantly... does anyone know what that thing might be on the bottom right of the image? I don't quite remember that being there when I took the photo. 

Attack of the Rubber Ducks!

The six-story-high version of the childhood bathtub favorite was set adrift in Victoria harbor prior to Hong Kong's "Art Week". While the annual art fair anchors the festivities, it is also the time of year that the city puts on its best cultural works and events... and this year, the most talked about "cultural work" was the giant rubber duck floating next to the Star Ferry Pier. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman came up with the concept (officially called "Spreading Joy Around the World") to try and create a catalyst to connect people to public art.

Not only has the rubber duck brought happiness and joy... but it has also lead to the "Rubber Duck Stimulus". Since May 2 (the day it first arrived), rubber duck mania has ensued... attracting hundreds of thousands of people from the region and prompting businesses to launch a seemingly endless supply of duck-related products. I'm not quite sure why the rubber duck has been such a hit in Hong Kong (has already made appearances in nine other countries around the world without as much fanfare). However, it gave the city a little boost, just as it needed something.

Apparently, the rubber duck has already been knocked off by several cities in China. If you want the real rubber duck, you have to wait and see where the dutch artist takes it next.

March 9, 2011

London art?

The streets of East London have some of the best graffiti art in the world. If you're ever there, I definitely recommend cruising the streets for an afternoon just to check it out. This definitely was not one of the best pieces I saw... but I liked the combination of colors and textures in a confined space.