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Sculptures must be protected from vandals
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June 27th, 2007 issue

Vandalism is never pretty, but it’s particularly ugly when it’s directed at public art.

Sculpture Grande’s fifth anniversary open-air art festival features 13 sculptures in various busy spots around the center. It’s organized by the local art powerhouse Gallery Art Factory and city officials.
There’s been an explosion of vandalism and damage to at least five of the works since they were installed June 20.
“Pig,” a sculpture of a pig on a diving board created by Czech artist Jan Kadlec, had its tail ripped off over the weekend — a wanton act of violence that left organizers scratching their heads.
In fact, co-curator Olga Dvořáková was at the police station twice Friday night to report apparently malicious damage to other sculptures as well.
So the very feeling organizers are trying to achieve — for viewers to feel as if the art has been in these public locations forever, according to Dvořáková — is the same thing that seems to be causing problems.
Ironically, there have been no problems in the past four years when the sculptures were placed on Wenceslas Square. It could be that those sculptures were harder to damage, since many were bigger, making them feel like huge, modern monuments. But it could also be that people are losing respect for public objects.
“It’s just pure vandalism, just climbing on them and damaging them and making something bad,” Dvořáková said. “It is very often people who are already drunk at night, and it has nothing to do with the art.”
One of three psychedelic-looking mushrooms in the “Mushrooms” sculpture by Switzerland’s Sylvie Fleury in a grassy spot behind a low fence on Old Town Square lost its cap. Across the way, workers had to remove the number boxes that were part of the “Information” sculpture created by Brigitte Kowanz in Austria because people sat and leaned on them.
Others were sitting inside the “Venus and the Shoe” sculpture by Jean-Jacques Ory of France when co-curator Gisela Winkelhofer drove by.
Winkelhofer immediately stopped the car and demanded the people get out of the artwork. The larger-than-life shoe has a reproduction of Boticelli’s famous “Venus” inside.
Winkelhofer points out that there’s signage with each artwork, so there’s no excuse for people walking by not to figure out what the unusual objects are for.
Sculpture Grande has hired security guards for additional 200,000 Kč ($9,360) to protect the art works for the next three months. The additional money will come from the show’s sponsors, which include Palladium, Subterra and Hotel Josef.
Having to add security guards for protection is really a shame, since the whole idea of having art out in the open is to break down some of the barriers viewers feel in a museum.
But Prague is certainly not unique. In April this year at a museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, a man tore down a centuries-old painting of David holding the severed head of Goliath. He then put his foot through the $300,000 canvas.
In Belgium in 2003, a street show of cow sculptures in Brussels saw attacks just hours after it was set up. In another incident, a knife attacker slashed outdoor photographs hung by Belgian photographer Dirk Braekman.
“We got so much support, and 1 million people really love it. I don’t want to get the feeling that all of these Prague people are bad guys,” Winkelhofer said.
Next year, we suggest all of the sculptures be moved back to one central location. It wouldn’t hurt to require the artists to use materials that cannot be destroyed by random, senseless acts.
No matter how exciting it is to come upon a piece of art out in the world, it can’t be enjoyed if it can’t be protected.     


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