Screening Program:
Municipal Sculpture

April 4, 19.00

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces (1988)
William H. Whyte
English without subtitles
58 minutes

The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces is a film about the open spaces of cities and why some of them work for people while others don’t. Beginning at New York’s Seagram Plaza, one of the most used open areas in the city, the film proceeds to analyze why this space is so popular and how other urban oases, both in New York and elsewhere, measure up. Based on direct observation of what people actually do, the film presents a remarkably engaging and informative tour of the urban landscape and looks at how it can be made more hospitable to those who live in it.

Courtesy of Direct Cinema Limited

April 5, 15.00

Sonsbeek buiten de perken (1971)
Jef Cornelis
Dutch, English, French; with English subtitles
46 minutes

The film deals with the public art exhibition series Sonsbeek that took place in Netherlands in 1971, set in a time of conceptual art, process art, performance and video. The exhibition was not limited on the border of the park but instead strecthed all over.

“There really wasn’t very much to see at Sonsbeek. The pieces looked lost. The exhibition fell apart. As soon as you left the immediate location, the show was already over. Who would go all the way to Emmen to see the Robert Smithson work, or to Santpoort for the Robert Morris? Just a few pilgrims. There is a problem with that kind of public art… I usually find art in public space dead boring.” Jef Cornelis

Courtesy Van Eyck—Multiform Institute for fine art and design, Maastricht

April 6, 13.30

The Sculpture 100 (2005)
England’s Public Sculpture 1905-2005
English without subtitles

The film is a journey through one hundred public sculptures made across one hundread years. Touring through England’s outdoor museum of public sculpture, the film features works by, among many others, Jacob Epstein, Eric Gill, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Richard Deacon, Anish Kapoor and Rachel Whiteread.

April 6, 15.00

Public Art Private Views (2013)
Michael Cox
English without subtitles
180 minutes

Public Art Private Views is an exploration of art in the public realm—how it gets there, how it’s made, and the role art plays in creating communities in urban environments. Topics include artists, curators, architects, addressing the site, civic administration, and the role of art in the city.