Most public art sucks!! It serves no purpose! The money should be used to help the community by providing something useful. Like food for the local food bank. If it's for the enhancement of the property, put it towards better quality construction or landscaping. Please note, this comment is directed at public art in general and not only these god-awful horses.
 
Most public art sucks!! It serves no purpose! The money should be used to help the community by providing something useful. Like food for the local food bank. If it's for the enhancement of the property, put it towards better quality construction or landscaping. Please note, this comment is directed at public art in general and not only these god-awful horses.

So Landscaping has a purpose and doesn't suck, but public art has no purpose and sucks? I'm not sure I get the distinction here.
 
The following introduction to a Wikipedia article is utterly off topic here…

Philistines (English pronunciation: /ˈfɪlɨstiːnz, -staɪnz, fɨˈlɪstɨnz, -tiːnz/;[1] Hebrew: פְּלִשְׁתִּים‎‎, Plištim), Pleshet or Peleset, were a people who occupied the southern coast of Canaan at the beginning of the Iron Age (circa 1175 BC). According to the Bible, they ruled the five city-states (the "Philistine Pentapolis") of Gaza, Askelon, Ashdod, Ekron and Gath, from the Wadi Gaza in the south to the Yarqon River in the north, but with no fixed border to the east.

… so I'll try to bring it 'round by noting that it's great to see that despite the apparent hordes of descendants from the Philistine Pentapolis now living in the GTA, that public art has taken a foothold in Mississauga. Good show.
 
playing around...
20111120020.jpg

This is going to become a very common photo / pose. I was actually thinking that a small podium for people so stand on near the base would be a good idea, to make thuese upward looking candid shots easier to take without lying on the ground with your camera.
 
This is going to become a very common photo / pose. I was actually thinking that a small podium for people so stand on near the base would be a good idea, to make thuese upward looking candid shots easier to take without lying on the ground with your camera.

That's a good idea. These two were actually standing on 3 feet of rolled-up grass, made it easier to take the shot.
 
Most public art sucks!! It serves no purpose! The money should be used to help the community by providing something useful. Like food for the local food bank. If it's for the enhancement of the property, put it towards better quality construction or landscaping. Please note, this comment is directed at public art in general and not only these god-awful horses.

Everyone is entitled to opinion.

Your opinion sucks.

That's my opinion.
 
Hi All,

A short piece on our new public art. Hope you like our horses!

http://blog.mycondomylife.com/cityz...zituas-buen-amigo-arrives-in-mississauga.html

I had a question regarding the significance of these horses in relation to the site of the building. I noticed it was asked by another person already, and answered by you in the comment section:

The corner of Burnhamthorpe & Hwy 10 used to be an operating farm with livestock etc. These sculptures are symbolic of the horses who worked alongside the farmers of the past. The artist felt this was an appropriate way to reference this piece of history. While the horses are representative of what came before, the [modern] form of the horses echo the twist and geometry of the buildings – a subtle yet symbolic nod to the past if you will…
 
I had a question regarding the significance of these horses in relation to the site of the building. I noticed it was asked by another person already, and answered by you in the comment section:

"The corner ... used to be an operating farm ... ''

Mississauga has been somewhat thin on public art. The concept has not been fully accepted as yet. Full credit to Cityzen. I hope we will see some more examples, especially in the City Centre area. I wonder how many would remember that a major inspiration for the present City Hall building was the fact that its design refers back to original Ontario farm barns and silos, as commonly seen in this area, actually not so long ago.
 
Some examples: Carr family farm at Hurontario and Burnhamthorpe

Mississauga Archives
Title: Carr Farm, R. N. Carr and Son Bill Carr, ca 1939
Donor: Bill and Mary Carr
LG_n899.jpg


Title: Carr Farm, Robert Norman Carr Cutting Fall Wheat
Donor: Bill and Mary Carr
LG_n900.jpg
 
I was at the event, it was great!

http://www.mississauga.com/what's%20on/article/1256865--public-art-recalls-area-s-past#Comments

Joseph Chin | Dec 05, 2011 - 10:53 AM

Public art recalls area’s past

Cityzen Development Group and Fernbrook Homes gave Mississauga the Marilyn Monroe towers, which put the city firmly on the global architectural map.
Now the developers have given Mississauga a piece of public art created by an internationally-renowned sculptor.
The work, which features the image of three horses in dynamic poses, stands at the base of the Marilyn Monroe condos, part of the five-tower Absolute World community located on the northeast corner of Hurontario St. and Burnhamthorpe Rd.
Called Buen Amigo, which translates into “Good Friend,” the sculpture was created by Francisco Gazitua, one of Chile’s foremost artists, with a career spanning more than 40 years, and a member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Arts. Gazitua was a former professor of sculpture at Saint Martin’s School of Art in London, England as well as the former head of the sculpture department at Universidad Finnis Terrae in Santiago, Chile.
It's Mississauga’s first privately-commissioned public art.
“We knew we wanted this urban art exhibit, or urban work, to create a physically and visually engaging series of elements that would enhance and animate the Absolute community. Buen Amigo certainly achieves all of these things. This sculpture brings vibrancy and a sense of connection between the street, the plaza and the building,” Paulo Stellato, a partner with Cityzen, told the gathering during last Friday’s unveiling.
Gazitua wasn’t there for the ceremony, but he sent a statement.
“With all of my sculptural work, I seek to connect with the nature and character, including the historical character, of its site,” he said. “With the Absolute, I see an opportunity to address one of my great passions as a sculptor — the horse. Emerging from what were once farmer’s fields, there is an agrarian aspect to the history of the site. This recollection of the past in a modern way serves to contrast the contemporary city that is growing around it.”
While the horses are representative of what came before, the modern form of the horses echoes the twist and geometry of the buildings, he noted.
Mayor Hazel McCallion said the work is a symbolic nod to the downtown core’s past. She recalled that when she looked outside her office window in the former City Hall 33 years ago, she would see horses and cows grazing in the fields.
“Back then it was truly farmland and very rural, so I’m delighted this piece of public art represents horses,” she said.
Ed Sajecki, the City’s commissioner of planning and building, noted that both the Marilyn Monroe towers and the sculpture were the result of international design competitions. Gazitua was one of three finalists selected to develop the urban work. The others were Studio Roso, of London, England, and Toronto’s Pierre Poussin.
“The (building) project was a game-changer for Mississauga ... this public art is a game-changer as well,” said Sajecki.
jchin@mississauga.net
 

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