Browsing by Author "Varney, Catherine Opal"

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    Device to Root Out Place: An Ethnography of Public Art in East Calgary
    (2014-09-29) Varney, Catherine Opal; Rusted, Brian
    In 2008, a large-scale outdoor sculpture created by world-renowned artist, Dennis Oppenheim, was installed on a proposed site for a billion dollar mixed-use real estate redevelopment project in Calgary’s historic Ramsay neighbourhood. Oppenheim’s sculpture, Device to Root out Evil is one of many public artworks recently installed in East Calgary and serves as a prime example of how public art is being integrated into urban development and private real estate projects. This research project explores how cultural artifacts, such as public art, are being used as placemaking tools. This localized case study connects artistic practice to economic emplacement and displacement, cultural consumption and production, and urban change. It is a mixed-methods ethnography that moves beyond visual analysis of public art to incorporate sensory experiences of being in a place, thereby revealing how attending to the senses can contribute to the placemaking process.