This last week, one of the four Edvard Munch “The Scream” paintings was up at auction and broke records of price at $119.9M (£74M). It is an iconic painting and has, in print form, decorated the walls of millions of angst-ridden teens and early 20’s students over many decades. As a painting it taps into several primeval yearnings or responses to circumstances that most humans will experience at some point in their lives. In a frame in an art gallery, that view into the sub-conscious mind is almost therapeutic and has a structure to it. While the painting itself is stark, the environment within which is it usually presented is structured and has a safety to it.
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| How does it stay upright?? |
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| Public art in The Faroes |
What if a work of art of that scale of emotional reality were to be exhibited in a public open space? Obviously if it had a frame, there would be a sense of structure continuing to help guide the mind through the turmoil. If it were a piece that had no frame, that was one and part of the surroundings, if it were in an isolated place? What would its role be then? That sense of safety may well no longer be there. To enter within an art gallery is an action of choice, even if only to shelter from the rain. To walk through a public area is an action caused far less by choice and is part of everyday experiences. It is for this reason that public art in public places seldom runs amok with the emotions in the same way that paintings like The Scream can. It is not appropriate.
