Snapshot: Corporate Art
Tags: Adidas, advertising, art, Canadian Tire, corporate art, heritage, portland, public art, Vancouver
Oversized Shell Toe Adidas shoe sculptures are located at the corporation’s North American headquarters. For Adidas, the art is the foundation of a publicity stunt and multimedia ad campaign. (The left shoe was painted by artists from the West Coast, while a New-York-based collective provided decoration for the right shoe.) For residents and visitors of Portland, the shoes might represent conflicting meanings: love of skate shoes; East Coast-West Coast rivalry; a splash of colour in the urban environment; an irritating corporate intrusion.
Meanwhile, a huge sculpture of a drill bit looms outside a big-box power centre on the side of Vancouver’s Grandview Highway. Shavings embedded in surrounding landscaping are engraved with Canadian Tire advertising keywords like “fixing” and “driving”. The municipality required this development to include a public art component as a condition of site rezoning. Apparently, the developer’s plan promised artwork that would invoke the location’s “layers of metaphoric meaning“.
A recent installment of the Kunstlercast deals with the topic of commercial and corporate art by discussing examples from Troy, New York. Kunstler points out widespread public fondness for an older form of corporate art – hand-painted advertising signs that adorn old buildings. Many of these peeling old ads have been lovingly restored in the name of local heritage while modern-day billboards and corporate sculptures enjoy considerably less popularity.
What do you think – can corporate art meaningfully contribute to good urban design? If well done, can it advertise a company while simultaneously making the city more beautiful or interesting? Let us know in the comments or in the Planning Pool forums. Creative thinkers are also invited to offer their metaphoric interpretations of the giant drill bit.
Matt Hanson said:
Jul 23, 09 at 1:40 amGood writing. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed my Google News Reader..
Matt Hanson
Adam Hyslop said:
Jul 23, 09 at 1:41 pmI’m not sure if the artist in the Canadian Tire case was all that successful in expressing “the layers of metaphoric meaning” of the location… to me the piece simply says “we sell drill bits here.” But I guess I would still consider it art and it does seem to add interest to the site.
Corporate icons and symbols have always been a part of the urban landscape. Most designated ‘heritage’ districts and buildings owe much of their legacy to some form of corporate enterprise. ‘Corporate intrusion’ is ubiquitous in cities anyways, so I say why not encourage this intrusion to be in the form of unique and interesting works of art rather than billboards and signage!
Daniella said:
Jul 24, 09 at 3:22 pmAdam, that makes sense to me! I suppose if I had to choose between a corporate sculpture or a billboard, I would go for the former.
Studio Art Direct said:
Jul 27, 09 at 10:36 amYes corporate art contributes to urban design and society in general as well as helps to support the creative class. It is also a trend that is growing. More companies are realizing the value of spinning their brand to an art form. From boutique hotels to healthcare, art is becomming a statement of “who they are” and a contribution to supporting the arts. This is a fantastic opportunity for aritsts. In some respects, it harkens back to the days of the medici. Big corporate-type money pays for great art and society benefits.
As corporate art consulants, we’ve infused art into sign systems, painted building murals, interactive digital art displays, exterior sculpture (as you have shown) and commissioned paintings.