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Colston statue replacement

My first thought is that this is just another form of enclosure, this time a Cambridge educated posh bloke from somewhere else gets to decide for the people of the city, carving out locals behind their backs. Who knows, maybe, crazy as it sounds, there were maybe some black artists in the city who had something to say?The content of the thing on isn't a problem in itself but the process is very similar to how colston went up in the first place.
 
My first thought is that this is just another form of enclosure, this time a Cambridge educated posh bloke from somewhere else gets to decide for the people of the city, carving out locals behind their backs. Who knows, maybe, crazy as it sounds, there were maybe some black artists in the city who had something to say?The content of the thing on isn't a problem in itself but the process is very similar to how colston went up in the first place.
Never mind, you can be sure it won't be there as long as Colston's was
 
My first thought is that this is just another form of enclosure, this time a Cambridge educated posh bloke from somewhere else gets to decide for the people of the city, carving out locals behind their backs. Who knows, maybe, crazy as it sounds, there were maybe some black artists in the city who had something to say?The content of the thing on isn't a problem in itself but the process is very similar to how colston went up in the first place.
My first thought was yay! The second was Brilliant!
 
Yeah this is definitely the same as the statue of a slave trader being there for 150 years. Same exact thing. Hashtag tear it down hashtag priorities.
 
One of the main issues around the 40 year plus struggle over the statue - beyond the question of it being a heroisation of a disgusting slaver - was that of the assertion of ownership over public space by the rich (in this particular case as part of a battle between colston's north bristol mafia and their fast growing south bristol rivals) that it represented and the enclosure that this entailed, Now this posh oxbridge bloke from somewhere else has just asserted his own ownership over public space, and public space only very recently won by collective struggle. I repeat, this is a point not about the content of the statue but a wider one. But, i see already that this is a fruitless thread with people going to be determined to miss or ignore the point, and i'e not really got neither the time nor the inclination to waste on that sort of thing today.
 
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One of the main issues around the 40 year plus struggle over the statue - beyond the question of it being a heroisation of a disgusting slaver - was that of the assertion of ownership over public space by the rich (in this particular case as part of a battle between colston's north bristol mafia and their fast growing south bristol rivals) that it represented and the enclosure that this entailed, Now this posh cambridge bloke from somewhere else has just asserted his own ownership over public space, and public space only very recently won by collective struggle. I repeat, this is a point not about the content of the statue but a wider one. But, i see already that this is a fruitless thread with people going to be determined to miss or ignore the point,
Seems to me you wilfully miss some of the bigger picture.
 
Seems to me you wilfully miss some of the bigger picture.
I don't generally get involved in debates with butchersapron, because I'm the proverbial unarmed man in the battle of wits when it comes to such things, but my own politically naive take on this is that there's a narrative: Colston's statue got taken down, and various other activities have kept the pot boiling, now this - it's keeping the issue alive and in the public eye. I guess, from an ideologically purist point of view, it's not much cop, but it's another nice slap in the face, albeit maybe not a big enough one from some points of view, for the establishment efforts to keep things the same. The statue won't last, and with any luck what goes up in the end will be something that takes the narrative on in a useful direction, but it serves as a placeholder. Maybe it can end up in the museum next to Colston's...
 
Seems to me you wilfully miss some of the bigger picture.
I think you've both got a point. It's particularly pleasing to see a statue of a protester occupy that site. Especially to see the statue of a black woman replace a white slaver. But this is parachuting in and not dealing with how Bristolians who use the space want it filled. It is possible they'd go for something like the statue that's there now. But that choice, that agency, has been removed from them. In addition the statue's by someone with no connection to Bristol, not to mention that this is the view of an artist whose work sells at Sotheby's and high end celeb auctions. I wonder if a statue by a local artist might have more resonance.
 
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I think you've both got a point. It's particularly pleasing to see a statue of a protester occupy that site. Especially to see the statue of a black women replace a white slaver. But this is parachuting in and not dealing with how Bristolians who use the space want it filled. It is possible they'd go for something like the statue that's there now. But that choice, that agency, has been removed from them. In addition the statue's by someone with no connection to Bristol, not to mention that this is the view of an artist whose work sells at Sotheby's and high end celeb auctions. I wonder if a statue by a local artist might have more resonance.
I agree. But this is encouraging for people. It inspires. It's a win.
 
I don't generally get involved in debates with butchersapron, because I'm the proverbial unarmed man in the battle of wits when it comes to such things, but my own politically naive take on this is that there's a narrative: Colston's statue got taken down, and various other activities have kept the pot boiling, now this - it's keeping the issue alive and in the public eye. I guess, from an ideologically purist point of view, it's not much cop, but it's another nice slap in the face, albeit maybe not a big enough one from some points of view, for the establishment efforts to keep things the same. The statue won't last, and with any luck what goes up in the end will be something that takes the narrative on in a useful direction, but it serves as a placeholder. Maybe it can end up in the museum next to Colston's...
The issue hasn't really gone away, not since the toppling - this week there was long attack in the paper from a former Merchant Venturer bigwig over their role in running numerous schools in the city (they honestly do, mad as that sounds) with lots more to come on that front, and Cleo Lake (local green poss future mayor and very associated with counter-colston) has come out attacking the potential prosecutions and putting the pressure on mayor Rees who has effectively gone into political hiding over the issue, refusing all questions etc This will, of course, contribute to that ongoing stuff, but it's not like it's not ongoing already.
 
The issue hasn't really gone away, not since the toppling - this week there was long attack in the paper from a former Merchant Venturer bigwig over their role in running numerous schools in the city (they honestly do, mad as that sounds) with lots more to come on that front, and Cleo Lake (local green poss future mayor and very associated with counter-colston) has come out attacking the potential prosecutions and putting the pressure on mayor Rees who has effectively gone into political hiding over the issue, refusing all questions etc
If a decent protest is organised send word, we will come.
 
My first thought is that this is just another form of enclosure, this time a Cambridge educated posh bloke from somewhere else gets to decide for the people of the city, carving out locals behind their backs. Who knows, maybe, crazy as it sounds, there were maybe some black artists in the city who had something to say?The content of the thing on isn't a problem in itself but the process is very similar to how colston went up in the first place.
My first thought was 'at least is wasn't Banksy'.

Agree that this would have been better coming from a lesser known local black artist, but - and this in itself raises some issues - the fact it was done by a well-known contemporary artist who's work sells for loads of cash and that means it's got more chance of staying there. A local unknown artist's statue would be down already.
 
I know nothing about the artist, but when I saw it this morning it proper cheered me up. I'm not sure it's about colonising public space for the rich, it points more to a democratisation of it. If we don't like it we can vote with ropes and a tumble to the dock and even though it's just one representative it celebrates mass action
 
I know nothing about the artist, but when I saw it this morning it proper cheered me up. I'm not sure it's about colonising public space for the rich, it points more to a democratisation of it. If we don't like it we can vote with ropes and a tumble to the dock and even though it's just one representative it celebrates mass action

Perhaps the fash will do that with this new one. What a time to be alive.
 
I know nothing about the artist, but when I saw it this morning it proper cheered me up. I'm not sure it's about colonising public space for the rich, it points more to a democratisation of it. If we don't like it we can vote with ropes and a tumble to the dock and even though it's just one representative it celebrates mass action
i'm not sure someone bowling up and saying 'i'm going to put my own statue on that now-vacant plinth' is democracy in action. maybe this time it's something many people will cheer. but as far as i can see there's been none of your actual involvement in the decision by bristolians which might enable you to say 'this is the people's will' or similar.
 
I know nothing about the artist, but when I saw it this morning it proper cheered me up. I'm not sure it's about colonising public space for the rich, it points more to a democratisation of it. If we don't like it we can vote with ropes and a tumble to the dock and even though it's just one representative it celebrates mass action
He's one of the more significant contemporary artists working in the UK atm - you'll know at least his head made of his own blood, frozen:

1594815808452.png

and you'll probably know one of his previous works of public art, Alison Lapper Pregnant (which occupied the fourth plinth on Trafalgar Square for a while, an honour shared briefly by an urbanite IIRC - Mation?)

1594816001436.png

One of the issues this raises for Bristol Council is that this isn't just a statue - it's a sculpture worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by one of the country's foremost sculptors. In any other circumstance they would be delighted to have a piece of his work on display in the city - and the fact that it's a piece by Quinn rather than a less well known local BME artist means it's more likely to stay there IMO. They will be working out how to keep it there safely right now I'd imagine...
 
He's one of the more significant contemporary artists working in the UK atm - you'll know at least his head made of his own blood, frozen:

View attachment 222384

and you'll probably know one of his previous works of public art, Alison Lapper Pregnant (which occupied the fourth plinth on Trafalgar Square for a while, an honour shared briefly by an urbanite IIRC - Mation?)

View attachment 222387

One of the issues this raises for Bristol Council is that this isn't just a statue - it's a sculpture worth hundreds of thousands of pounds by one of the country's foremost sculptors. In any other circumstance they would be delighted to have a piece of his work on display in the city - and the fact that it's a piece by Quinn rather than a less well known local BME artist means it's more likely to stay there IMO. They will be working out how to keep it there safely right now I'd imagine...
Shamefully, I'm a bit of philistine when it comes to contemporary artists, but I do vaguely recognise the woman on the Trafalgar plinth.

Perhaps the fash will do that with this new one. What a time to be alive.

Maybe we should get a few crates of stella in and stand around protecting it #All statues matter
 
I don't know enough about Mark Quinn to say for sure he's not just a twat arrogantly imposing his art into a situation he ought to stay out of.

But it seems to me like a good example of public art, which is hard enough to come by that I'm not sure it makes too much sense to look a gift horse in the mouth. I really doubt it's been put up there in the expectation that everyone will just have to accept it, in any case.
 
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