| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76878 | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | This work is sponsored by the Stony Brook University Graduate School in compliance with the requirements for completion of degree. | en_US |
| dc.format | Monograph | |
| dc.format.medium | Electronic Resource | en_US |
| dc.language.iso | en_US | |
| dc.publisher | The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY. | |
| dc.type | Thesis | |
| dcterms.abstract | On August 1st 2012, the Institute of Contemporary Art introduced the work of the twins Otavio and Gusavo Pandolfo, otherwise known as Os Gêmeos. This was the first solo US museum exhibition of the artists, who are possibly the best-known street artists of Brazil, and who have shown their work at Miami Art Basel, the Armory Show, P.S. 1, and the Tate Modern. The display consisted of two murals within the city of Boston, the most notable of the two commonly referred to as The Giant of Boston. The 70 foot by 70 foot crouched figure with a hidden face was situated within the local park, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy (figure 1). In August 2013, news channel Fox 25 broadcast a segment in which passersby called it " Bart Simpson in a Mujahedeen outfit" (figure 2.).' The location of the work and its close proximity to a main site of urban transit brought up intimations of terrorism. Immediately visible from Boston's South Station, the mural became a source of debate in the case of public opinion versus artistic expression within the context of the Rose Kennedy Greenway's emerging public art program. As a mural that was physically conceived to be temporary even before any notion of its imagery came into play, the destruction of this site-specific work was inevitable. In this paper, I discuss temporary public art and its ability to present controversy, drawing on the case of Os Gêmeos's, The Giant of Boston and the ability of temporary art to become a mirror for local politics. This project can be seen as an example in which the art institution, in an attempt to bring urban art into a productive and interactive landscape - the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy's aims in this case - were subverted by the actual aims of the artists themselves, who had no such desire to assimilate. The artists' idea of interactivity was unrelated to the commodity status of the work as considered in terms of tourism and attraction by the park in which it was located. This mural was dually tied to advancement of a public development projects as an economic tool to revitalize the park. Paradoxically, the subversive nature of the artwork in fact served as publicity for the park in which it was located. Although technically it did not commission the work, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy had both a financial contribution and a vested stake in the work insofar as it sought to emerge as a major player in Boston's public art scene. In the end, the very temporality of the work provided the Greenway with much-needed publicity without consequences sometimes otherwise associated with public art-- namely, the displacement and destruction of site-specific work. | |
| dcterms.abstract | On August 1st 2012, the Institute of Contemporary Art introduced the work of the twins Otavio and Gusavo Pandolfo, otherwise known as Os Gêmeos. This was the first solo US museum exhibition of the artists, who are possibly the best-known street artists of Brazil, and who have shown their work at Miami Art Basel, the Armory Show, P.S. 1, and the Tate Modern. The display consisted of two murals within the city of Boston, the most notable of the two commonly referred to as The Giant of Boston. The 70 foot by 70 foot crouched figure with a hidden face was situated within the local park, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy (figure 1). In August 2013, news channel Fox 25 broadcast a segment in which passersby called it " Bart Simpson in a Mujahedeen outfit" (figure 2.).' The location of the work and its close proximity to a main site of urban transit brought up intimations of terrorism. Immediately visible from Boston's South Station, the mural became a source of debate in the case of public opinion versus artistic expression within the context of the Rose Kennedy Greenway's emerging public art program. As a mural that was physically conceived to be temporary even before any notion of its imagery came into play, the destruction of this site-specific work was inevitable. In this paper, I discuss temporary public art and its ability to present controversy, drawing on the case of Os Gêmeos's, The Giant of Boston and the ability of temporary art to become a mirror for local politics. This project can be seen as an example in which the art institution, in an attempt to bring urban art into a productive and interactive landscape - the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy's aims in this case - were subverted by the actual aims of the artists themselves, who had no such desire to assimilate. The artists' idea of interactivity was unrelated to the commodity status of the work as considered in terms of tourism and attraction by the park in which it was located. This mural was dually tied to advancement of a public development projects as an economic tool to revitalize the park. Paradoxically, the subversive nature of the artwork in fact served as publicity for the park in which it was located. Although technically it did not commission the work, the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy had both a financial contribution and a vested stake in the work insofar as it sought to emerge as a major player in Boston's public art scene. In the end, the very temporality of the work provided the Greenway with much-needed publicity without consequences sometimes otherwise associated with public art-- namely, the displacement and destruction of site-specific work. | |
| dcterms.available | 2017-09-20T16:51:22Z | |
| dcterms.contributor | Bogart, Michele | en_US |
| dcterms.contributor | Goodarzi, Shoki | en_US |
| dcterms.creator | Tonthat, Phuong-lan Rebekah | |
| dcterms.dateAccepted | 2017-09-20T16:51:22Z | |
| dcterms.dateSubmitted | 2017-09-20T16:51:22Z | |
| dcterms.description | Department of Art History and Criticism. | en_US |
| dcterms.extent | 23 pg. | en_US |
| dcterms.format | Application/PDF | en_US |
| dcterms.format | Monograph | |
| dcterms.identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/11401/76878 | |
| dcterms.issued | 2014-12-01 | |
| dcterms.language | en_US | |
| dcterms.provenance | Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-20T16:51:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1
Tonthat_grad.sunysb_0771M_11917.pdf: 268347 bytes, checksum: 6fc45f89b7bb7ce883554aaaa70a940b (MD5)
Previous issue date: 1 | en |
| dcterms.publisher | The Graduate School, Stony Brook University: Stony Brook, NY. | |
| dcterms.subject | Art history | |
| dcterms.subject | Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, Os Gemeos, Public Art, Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy | |
| dcterms.title | Os Gemeos and The Giant of Boston | |
| dcterms.type | Thesis | |
