A Nice Dandelion: Visual experiences at a shopping centre in Trondheim

Authors

• Ruth Woods Norwegian University of Science and Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30676/jfas.116523

Abstract

The Dandelion, a nine meters tall naturalistic sculpture painted in bright green and yellow car paint, was installed on a traffic island outside the City Syd ShoppingCentre on August 9th 2007. The sculpture provides an example with which to study the role art plays within public places. Aesthetic qualities are a useful place to start when trying to understand the role of public art. The Dandelion’s form, colour and physical connection with elements within the same  location, give the sculpture an opening to establish a relationship with its public. The Dandelion’s public is the focus of this paper. What the public sees may  lead to talk of other things connected to the Dandelion, but it is the sculpture’s physical form and visual qualities which initiate the response. The judgement  of form is a constant preoccupation; we make value judgements about many of the objects around us in day-to-day life. Taste is based on everyday  experiences, and not on fixed standards. The dandelion provides visitors to the shopping centre with something with which to consider and measure other  elements in the area with. It is likely that they would have done this anyway, but the Dandelion provides them with an aesthetic standard with which to do  this. This paper is based on fieldwork experiences in 2007 and 2008 at the City Syd Shopping Centre, which is located in the Tiller neighbourhood on the  outskirts of Trondheim, Norway.

Keywords: public art, aesthetics, shopping centres, agency