The problem of urban sculpture

In recent years, with the process of urbanization in China, the "city carving craze" has been heating up all over the country. It is rare in the world today that the number of urban sculptures built around the world is large and the speed of development is fast. Urban sculptures are mixed, and the level of sculpture design and production is uneven.

Although the urban sculpture craze continues to rise, a series of related issues about urban sculpture are lack of in-depth research and discussion. There is no consensus on many basic issues at present, especially the artistic performance of sculpture can not continue well, which is worthy of our expectation. Now, the top 10 sculpture focus issues that have caused controversy and different opinions are summarized as follows:

1、 Whether the name of urban sculpture is scientific and normative

There are many opinions that the concept of "urban sculpture" is not strict in itself, it is just a conventional concept. What does "city" mean as the attribute of "sculpture"? It just belongs to urban space? So is outdoor sculpture in rural and scenic spots urban sculpture?

In some important art dictionaries, the entry of "urban sculpture" cannot be found; In foreign countries, there is also no concept of urban sculpture. This concept was created by China itself. It began to be widely popular after the reform and opening up. It took a long time and was accepted by everyone.

Since the late 1990s, a word has come from abroad: "public art". There is no word for urban sculpture in foreign countries. What we call urban sculpture is usually called "public art". So many people think that urban sculpture is public art, and that the two terms can be interchanged. At present, it is common to mix these two concepts in China.

Public art belongs to the category of contemporary art; It does not focus on the concept of the material medium and space form of the work, because it can have all the means of artistic expression; It emphasizes the publicity, sociality and democratization of art; Its production mechanism and consumption mode are different from those in the past.

Some of our urban sculptures coincide with public art in concept. A few works can be called public art, but this does not mean that all urban sculptures can be equated with public art.

Public art and urban sculpture are not all related. Some people also call urban sculpture public sculpture, and regard it as a part of public art. This statement is also inappropriate, because many urban sculptures do not have the concepts emphasized by public art.

Some people also advocate replacing the concept of urban sculpture with the concept of environmental sculpture and landscape sculpture. This statement emphasizes the environmental attribute of urban sculpture, but the problem is that some urban sculptures have strong social and commemorative characteristics, not just a problem of landscape and environmental beautification. The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Sculpture cannot simply be said to be an environmental sculpture or a landscape sculpture.

There is another saying that urban sculpture is outdoor sculpture, which is neutral. It is true that most urban sculptures are placed outdoors, but the place of placement is not the fundamental problem of urban sculptures. With the increasingly diverse and rich architectural forms, urban sculptures are not necessarily placed outdoors. Therefore, there are also problems for users to define whether it is urban sculpture from inside and outside.

From this point of view, there are different opinions about the title of urban sculpture. At present, we can't give it a name that everyone is satisfied with. We can only use it for the time being.

2、 The management system of urban sculpture

The creation and construction of urban sculpture belongs to public things, but it is also a relatively special public thing with artistic characteristics. How to manage urban sculpture? Three issues are involved here:

（1） What organization, method and person will be in charge?

It is more common in foreign countries to adopt a public art committee composed of people from all walks of life to engage in the establishment of urban sculpture projects, the selection of authors, and the review of works.

China's urban sculpture management organization has gone through several stages:

On May 14, 1982, Mr. Liu Kaiqu and others jointly wrote a letter to the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee on the establishment of a national urban sculpture management agency. The Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee approved the establishment of the National Urban Sculpture Planning Group on July 12, under which the Urban Sculpture Art Committee was established.

On July 28, 1992, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and the General Office of the Ministry of Construction issued a document agreeing to change the name of the "National Urban Sculpture Planning Group" to the "National Urban Sculpture Construction Steering Committee".

On July 9, 2002, the Ministry of Construction issued a notice that the guidance function of urban sculpture construction management, which was originally undertaken by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Construction, was transferred to the Ministry of Construction. The Urban and Rural Planning Department is specifically responsible for the management and guidance of urban sculpture construction nationwide.

At the local level, some have corresponding institutions, either in the cultural department or in the planning and construction department. There are also many places where no corresponding institutions have been set up, and many work cannot be promoted and carried out. On September 14, 1993, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Construction issued the Administrative Measures for the Construction of Urban Sculptures. The problem is that the current management departments and methods of urban sculpture do not really impose constraints on the creation and construction of urban sculpture, and their functions and methods are still being explored.

（2） Administrative management or industrial management?

If urban sculpture belongs to the administrative management of the government, it should be authorized by the administrative license. From the current situation, the administrative department of urban sculpture is related to the government, but it has not received specific administrative authorization and the support of corresponding laws and regulations. Therefore, some sculptors advocate strengthening the administrative functions of the government to ensure the healthy and orderly development of urban sculpture.

From the perspective of improving the government's management function at present, the government's administrative management will be withdrawn in many fields, and the simplification of administration and decentralization will release the market vitality. Without the authorization of the Administrative License Law, the management of urban sculpture is likely to be transformed into industry management, which can be managed through industry self-discipline. Many people are concerned about how to manage the industry and how to really manage it.

（3） Industry standards and specifications

Compared with the urban planning and construction industries, these industries are supported by national laws and regulations, and have formed relatively complete industrial standards and specifications in terms of qualification, bidding, charging, quality standards, acceptance, and responsibility. At present, there are no industrial standards and norms for urban sculpture. For example, if cast copper, stainless steel and stone are used as materials for the processing of urban sculpture, there is no uniform standard for its material grade requirements and processing quality standards; The basis for the processing fee and the determination of the degree of difficulty are still independent and have their own standards. Some people also believe that urban sculpture, as an art industry, is relatively special and has strong personality. It can not form a unified standard and standard like architecture. For example, the charging standard for urban sculpture design is difficult to establish a unified standard like architecture, of which there are thousands of differences.

3、 The source of funds for urban sculpture

At present, the sources of funding for urban sculpture construction are relatively complex, including the following:

Government financial expenditure;

The enterprise invests or sponsors the construction;

Raising funds through private channels.

The construction of urban sculpture in foreign countries mainly depends on the art percentage plan. That is, through legislation, a certain proportion of the total construction funds will be used for the construction of environmental art and urban sculpture. In foreign countries, some people call public art "percentage art". Another important source of funds for urban sculpture construction abroad is the art foundation system. In the absence of these two main sources of construction funds in China, how to improve the status of construction funds and make urban sculpture construction develop healthily and orderly is an important issue. At present, more and more experts call for learning foreign art percentage plans. The attempt of art percentage has met with opposition in China: according to the current level of China's economic development, this increases the capital burden of investors and is not conducive to attracting investment. So there is no place to formally try this method.

4、 The quantity and quality of urban sculpture

It has become a general consensus to emphasize the quality of urban sculpture. On this basis, how to look at the relationship between the quantity and quality of urban sculpture remains a different focus. Under the premise of emphasizing quality, some experts pay attention to the inclusive and popularization of urban sculpture. They believe that the development of urban sculpture industry should be guaranteed quantitatively. The concept of per capita occupancy of urban sculpture is put forward. They believe that instead of spending the money to make 10 small sculptures, build a large sculpture; It is better to make 10 small sculptures with the same funds to benefit the public and popularize art.

The Shanghai Urban Sculpture Master Plan proposes the goal of building 5000 sculptures by 2008. There is public opinion that this indicator is too high. The planner explained that there are more than 2000 sculptures in Shanghai, but everyone still said that they can't be seen. The total area of Shanghai (excluding the county) is 5299.29 square kilometers, which is less than one square kilometer. Contrary to this view, many experts have been calling for the number of urban sculptures to be controlled in recent years, emphasizing "less but better" and "better than others". Relevant cities such as Shanghai and Beijing have calculated such figures on the basis of soliciting expert opinions: among the completed urban sculptures, the good ones account for 10%, the inferior ones account for 10%, and the mediocre ones account for 80%. Based on this judgment, these experts put forward that the top priority of urban sculpture is to improve its quality. Some experts also put forward the sustainable development of urban sculpture construction. The existing urban space is a non-renewable resource, and urban sculpture is a long-term plan. It should leave space for development and construction for future generations. If we now plan and build every corner of the city; What do our descendants do? How will the future of urban sculpture industry develop?

5、 Bidding and tendering of urban sculpture

The bidding problem is the source of urban sculpture works. At present, there are four main sources of urban sculpture works:

（1） Universal bidding

Publish bidding announcement through public media. There is no entry threshold for such bids, and most of them have no base bid fee. The biggest problem with this kind of bidding is that it is impossible to recruit good works. Because there is no uniform standard for sculpture tendering and bidding in China, there is indeed a dark box operation. Many professional units have no idea of this kind of tendering and often do not participate in the tendering; Some famous sculptors "can't afford to lose this person" and generally do not participate in such bidding.

（2） Key contract

Invite several units or individuals with good reputation and good performance to conduct targeted bidding, and most of them will have a base bid compensation fee. This kind of bidding method is relatively common at present. Its limitation is unequal opportunities and lack of fair competition for the whole industry.

（3） Specify authoring

This method is widely used abroad. According to the requirements of the project and the characteristics of the sculptor, a sculptor is designated to complete a project. The question in this way is, who will specify? In the case of imperfect system, the suspicion of caring relationship may often arise.

（4） Planner system

This is the application of foreign art planner system in urban sculpture construction. The construction party invites professional planners of urban sculpture to act as professional agents; The planner puts forward the requirements of the work, decides the collection method, provides the work plan, supervises the work quality, carries out publicity and promotion, etc. In this way, a third party appeared in the relationship between Party A and Party B in the original urban sculpture construction. At present, there is such a situation in the construction of urban sculpture that the construction party cannot find a good sculptor, and even does not know how to start this work; Excellent sculptors can't find sculpture projects; The planner system helps to solve this problem. The problem is that there are few excellent and qualified planners.

6、 Public participation in urban sculpture

Public participation in urban sculpture has become a very fashionable slogan. But who are the public? How do they participate? How to participate? There are many problems to be solved. In fact, the construction process of urban sculpture is a game between urban managers, sculptors, developers or entrepreneurs, and urban public in urban public space. Who should be the final decision maker in the game? In theory, it should be the public.

For a long time, the final decision-making power of urban sculpture is the city administrator, that is, the government officials. With the development of the market economy, many enterprises have also become enthusiastic about building urban sculptures. When the enterprise invests in the construction, the enterprise boss establishes the final decision maker of urban sculptures. As a creator and implementer, the sculptor hopes to maintain his artistic pursuit on the one hand, and on the other hand, he also needs to adapt to the needs of the investor. He always completes his work in coordination and compromise.

When the issue of public participation was raised, the situation of the game changed. How to make urban sculpture become the embodiment of the public will first, instead of just taking it as a slogan, there are still many problems in the operation. Only by solving the problem of public participation can urban sculpture be expected to truly become a public art. The so-called method of public participation now is nothing more than the publicity of the plan, and the solicitation of public opinions before or after the creation of the plan. Is this way equal to public participation? The deeper question is how do we understand the public and how do we know the will of the public?

We do not strictly refer to the entire population of the city as the "public", but this is fictitious. In real life, there is no problem that can make the whole population pay attention to. That is to say, when we say "public opinion", it will always be the opinion of some people. How to turn the theoretical public decision-making power into a practical and operational way needs further discussion.

7、 The qualification of urban sculpture creation

In foreign countries, there is no qualification certificate for artistic creation. The certificate mainly refers to the certification of software proficiency, such as Adobe certification. Is certification a restrictive or encouraging measure for urban sculpture? Obviously, it is restrictive. It has raised the employment threshold of urban sculpture creation and design, but whether it can guarantee the quality of art is a question mark; What's more, how do we deal with the craftsmen who have inherited the craftsmanship? Are they qualified for sculpture creation? How to inherit the so-called craftsman spirit; Unlike planning and architecture, urban sculpture design is far more artistic than technical. Imagine how we can set a standard and qualification for art and inspiration.

From the perspective of citizens' cultural rights, if urban sculpture design is a public art creation activity, then citizens have the right to express their opinions on public matters and participate in their opinions. The qualification certificate cannot become a professional monopoly and deprive citizens of their right to cultural creation.

In 2002, Ren Junjie, a worker of Zhengzhou Railway Passenger Transport Section, sued the Zhengzhou Municipal Planning Bureau as an example. Zhengzhou Municipal Planning Bureau has solicited the renovation plan of Erqi Square from the society, and Ren Junjie's hobby for many years is to ponder the traffic problems of Erqi Square. The "Double Y traffic underpass plaza transformation scheme" completed by him was not only praised by businesses around the plaza, but also recognized by relevant experts, including academicians of the CAE Member. Ren Junjie submitted the design scheme, but the municipal planning bureau replied that Ren Junjie did not have the corresponding work qualification and his scheme did not have the qualification to participate in the review. In a rage, Ren Junjie complained to the court that the Planning Bureau had violated his civil rights. Ren Junjie's lawsuit reflects the new issue of cultural rights in the era of citizenship. We should not continue to issue qualification certificates for urban sculpture, especially in the new situation where the State Council has cancelled many professional qualification certificates, lowered the industry access threshold, and encouraged employment and entrepreneurship, it is also a question whether certificates are needed.

8、 The evaluation standard of urban sculpture

Urban sculpture is a public product. It is an art of coercion. People have to face it whether they want it or not. What is a good city sculpture? What is its standard? Now some cities have the conditions to make city sculptures, but they dare not, why? Don't be afraid to make up rhymes and jokes. This kind of "oral literature" makes many city officials under great pressure. Most people attribute the responsibility to the work itself, and think that the people's rhymes indicate the negative evaluation of the work, indicating that the artistic quality of the work is not high. Artists' creations cannot satisfy the masses.

Some people also disagree with this view and think that the evaluation of urban sculpture should consider three factors.

First of all, urban sculpture is a comprehensive reflection of the degree of civilization of a city. The value and significance of urban sculpture is not its "artistry" or "appreciation", but the overall level of political, spiritual and material civilization of the city it embodies. Urban civilization is not a part of civilization but a whole civilization, and urban sculpture is ultimately the symbol and cohesion of this overall level.

Secondly, the success or failure of urban sculpture in a city is ultimately determined by time. Time is the final judge of urban sculpture, and time is also a very important factor in shaping urban sculpture. Urban sculpture constantly communicates with the city and urban residents through time. Therefore, urban sculpture is shaped by sculptors and time; The significance of urban sculpture is also continuously given by time. Sometimes a piece of work looks unpleasant at the beginning, but after a long time, it is slowly accepted, and finally becomes inseparable, and even becomes a symbol of the city.

Thirdly, whether urban sculpture is successful or not, and its value depends on the relationship between it and urban space. It involves the particularity of the city, that is, its regionality. For example, the unique location of a city, urban events, urban history, urban psychology, urban customs, urban architecture, urban landscape, and so on, all of which are the contents of urban space. As a material form, urban sculpture can be imitated and copied, but the regional characteristics, unique features and environment of the city cannot be imitated and copied. If you move to city B for a good work in city A, people may not buy it. Some works are said by common people, which shows that it lacks space adaptability for the time being.

9、 Maintenance and management of urban sculpture

The placement of urban sculpture in public space will inevitably lead to maintenance and management problems. At present, sculpture companies and sculptors generally hope that urban sculpture will be more people-friendly and close to the people. Some copper sculptures also particularly hope that the people will touch them. The brighter they touch, the happier the sculptors will be, and the sculpture companies can also earn some maintenance fees. Now many sculpture works have canceled the base of sculpture, and do not want to make sculpture become something high above the ground, but place it on the grass, square and roadside without base. However, this has brought difficulties to the maintenance and management of sculptures. The quality of urban residents is different, and the damage of urban sculptures is very serious. For example, Shanghai's "Girl on the Telephone" was stolen and sold as copper by an outsider on Nanjing Road, which had a great impact.

Hangzhou: The bronze sculpture "Fantasy" was placed in Chengdong Park and was stolen on February 27, 2006. The case was solved on March 12. The cost is more than 100000 yuan, and the scrap copper is sold for 2200 yuan. The police offered a reward of 20000 yuan. (Art Daily, March 18, 2006)

Shenzhen: "Shenzhen People's Day" has been repaired four times. For this situation, there are two opinions. One is that urban sculptures should not be touched. They should be surrounded and not touched in close proximity. Another view is that the problem of damage to public facilities such as urban sculptures is not only in China, but also in the world. The famous Copenhagen "Mermaid" has also been stolen many times, but every time it is stolen, it has become a topic of discussion about social morality, and social civilization has been established in this discussion. Therefore, this is not great. It is the price of civilization.

10、 Demolition of urban inferior sculptures

Now there are some urban sculptures which are considered as urban garbage and visual pollution in China. Many experts and people have called for the demolition of these inferior urban sculptures. There are many difficulties in the real implementation of the demolition work. Although the voice is strong, there are not many real actions. There are many reasons and different opinions. Demolition of urban sculptures involves property rights issues, some of which are built by communities or enterprises themselves. It is difficult to dismantle these sculptures. The main opinions against simple demolition are: first, the procedure should be legal. If the construction was not strictly demonstrated at that time, the demolition should not be simplified. It should be strictly demonstrated, and there should be systems and rules. They can neither be built nor dismantled as they please. Who will identify the inferior sculpture? Does demolition require strict procedures for application, review and implementation? Is it necessary to give the owner the right to appeal and apply for reconsideration? All these problems need supporting laws and regulations. The most important issue of urban sculpture is the construction of the system, not the idea of doing it there.

Secondly, it should be treated in a specific way. Currently, the sculptures that are considered to be of inferior quality can be divided into two situations. One is the poor quality of production, the lack of a minimum level of creativity, and the potential safety hazards. Such sculptures should be removed through certain procedures. There are still some sculptures that are not unified in understanding, and some are just not widely accepted by everyone at present. It is unnecessary to dismantle these works. For example, there are a pair of stone lions squatting at the gate of many urban buildings. Some sculptors believe that these lions are not works of art. They are stereotyped and have no personality. They should be removed.

Opponents believe that using lions to suppress evil spirits is a kind of folk custom and a continuation of traditional culture, which objectively reflects the social psychology. Many people opposed the construction of the Eiffel Tower in France and suggested that it should be demolished after the World Expo. Now it has become a symbol of France like the Arc de Triomphe. If something like this remains, it will become a treasure in a few hundred years and become a cultural relic to witness this era. Therefore, the so-called problem of the merits and demerits of sculpture and the problem of the demolition of sculpture cannot be simplified, and people's understanding will be different in different times.