This ain’t Berlin
While visiting Sarasota for the 2011 Chalk Festival, Berlin artist MTO spray-painted a mural on a local building. The giant hands with “fast life” tattooed across the fingers have raised eyebrows and ruffled feathers. Tube Dude owner, Scott Gerber, stated if there were complaints he would remove the mural . There were complaints and he was asked to do just that.
While “Fast Life” doesn’t depict violence, critics say it is glorifying a lifestyle that destroys. The location of the mural is also being questioned. Is it appropriate to display this piece right on the “edge of the hood”? Does it create civic pride?
I live in the neighborhood and I look at the mural everyday on my way to and from work. I don’t feel it casts an unsavory shadow on my neighborhood as the dealers, pan-handlers and prostitutes accomplish that.
Publicity stunt, statement, whatever it is, ‘Fast-life’ and the controversy surrounding is serving Tube Dude well.
The public art controversy
Sarasota is full of art and artists. Tour the city and view the many nondescript forms of steel and stone adorning our medians, public buildings and even our parking garages. They make no statement and are safe. They elicit nothing more than a passing glance (I do exclude “Surrender” from this category).
“Fast Life” has succeeded where the majority of public art fails. It hit emotions and started a conversation. With no laws being broken, demanding the mural be removed for no other reason than “I don’t like it” or possibly, we won’t give you the money… is censorship. The whole thing has me wondering where this fits into the idea of freedom we are so proud of?
“Public art is an antidote for the hatred and disconnectedness in society. It is a creative, participatory,
critical, and analytical process. We must tell our stories, and encourage others of all ages to tell their
stories in any language they speak…We must teach ourselves and others to listen and to hear our stories
because it is in the very specificity of the human experience that we learn compassion”
~Judy Baca~
Public Art Controversy: Cultural Expression and Civic Debate By Erika Doss: Surveying several recent public art controversies, this Monograph is intended as a guide for arts professionals, civic leaders, and educators. Discussing both the expansive terrain of public art and its lightning rod tendency to spark debate, it considers how public art controversy can be used as a tool that enhances community awareness and civic life.
Censorship of art: “Fast Life” by Denise Kowal Founder of the Sarasota Chalk Festival: On the heels of successfully bringing the most important contemporary pavement art festival in the world to the Sarasota community, the Sarasota Chalk Festival was accused of creating a socially unacceptable work of art called “Fast Life.” Without any intent to do so, “Fast Life” is well on its way to becoming a valuable study of image and cultural stereotypes, which can either inhibit us or allow us to develop as a community and society.
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