The fine art of flying

Placing sculptures and paintings in airports is a highly democratic approach to exhibiting art, writes Deanna MacDonald
DEANNA MACDONALD
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail - October 24, 2007 at 8:54 AM EDT

Which of the following things would you expect to see in an airport: security guards, suitcases, waiting travellers, a Rembrandt? If you answered "all of the above," then you have probably noticed a growing trend - art in airports.
Millions of people fly every day, either rushing or spending hours languishing in terminals. So it was only a matter of time before some very clever marketing people and art lovers realized that this was a captive audience that would react positively to art.

As a result, artworks - from Old Masters to contemporary installations - have been popping up in airports around the world.
That Rembrandt hangs in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport (http://www.rijksmuseum.nl), which is home to a branch of the iconic Rijksmuseum. Miami Airport (http://www.miami-airport.com/html/art_exhibitions_and_culture_pr.html) has seven areas designated for temporary contemporary art exhibits. Seattle's Sea-Tac airport (http://www.portseattle.org/seatac/art) features a mix of works by emerging and local contemporary artists, all displayed with a pleasing insouciance: A Robert Rauschenberg hangs nonchalantly in Concourse C; a Louise Nevelson is found in the main terminal ticketing area. Yet so seriously does Sea-Tac take its art that its website recently featured a want ad for a full-time "art handler."

So what has inspired airports to explore their creative side? It seems to be both a desire to put art where it will be seen - almost everyone will enter an airport at some point, while not everybody goes to art galleries - and savvy marketing.
Airports have taken on a lot of negative, tense connotations in the past few years; art, on the other hand, is associated with the more serene world of museums and galleries. A few choice pieces of art can cast an airport in a similarly positive glow, as evidenced by the success of the Rijksmuseum Schiphol.

According to Schiphol spokeswoman Kathelijne Vermeulen, the airport museum has seen some very happy travellers. "Daily we have about 700 visitors," she said. "And passengers react very positively and enthusiastically." And really, who wouldn't rather while away their time in airport limbo with masterworks by the likes of Ruisdael and Rembrandt than, say, the aisles of cigarettes and alcohol in the duty-free shop?

This year is the Rijksmuseum Schiphol's fifth anniversary. To celebrate, a special exhibition entitled The Battle at Schiphol will commemorate a naval battle fought 450 years ago on the present-day site of the airport - a subject highlighting the art and history of both the Netherlands and Schiphol.

Following the principles of the "Bilbao Effect" - i.e., build a trendy piece of architecture and put your city on the international tourist map - airports are looking to art and design to promote themselves and the surrounding region. According to Copenhagen Airport's art guide (http://www.cph.dk, under the Virtual Airport heading), the artworks by Danish and other Scandinavian artists throughout its terminals help make the airport "a stunning business card for Denmark."

Art is also about adding local flavour to the frequent homogeneity of modern airports. Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport (http://www.airportsuvarnabhumi.com), whose high-tech, Western design by architect Helmut Jahn has been criticized for not being sufficiently Thai, uses art to add a sense of place.Works by 66 contemporary Thai artists are scattered throughout the airport - a series of large-scale murals by neo-traditional Thai artist Panya Vijinthanasarn adorn the baggage area - to remind passengers they are, in fact, in Thailand, not Frankfurt or Dallas. The airport's art and design also act as a clever bit of city "branding," suggesting Bangkok's ease with both traditional and contemporary cultures.

Similarly, the Vancouver Airport Authority created the YVR Art Foundation (http://www.yvraf.com) in 1994 to support Northwest Coast aboriginal art and to create, according to its website, "a unique sense of place within the airport." Today, its international terminal is a showcase for the region's unique artistic and natural heritage. Travellers entering the arrivals hall are greeted by the six-metre-tall red cedar Coast Salish Welcome Figures by Musqueam artist Susan A. Point. At the entrance to the international terminal, the bronze sculpture The Spirit of Haida Gwaii, The Jade Canoe by Bill Reid speaks directly to anyone who has ever been stuck between flights: It presents legendary Haida creatures, the artist said, paddling a boat that "goes on, forever anchored in the same place."

Of course, with a city's image on the line, don't expect to see anything too radical in an airport; it would be difficult to imagine seeing something like contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang's Moving Along, Nothing to See Here, which features life-size crocodiles pierced with thousands of scissors and knives confiscated at airport security checkpoints. After all, airport art is also about distracting travellers and getting them to relax. Copenhagen's website describes its art as "appealing," designed "to give passengers that sense of well-being." Miami's display, according to its website, aims "to humanize and enrich the airport."

Not that the art world hasn't had its own security issues. Recent attacks on art, such as the punctured Monet in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris or the smashed photography exhibit in Sweden, raise the question: Is an airport a safe environment for art? Only so much can be done to protect against vandals or fanatics, but on a more quotidian level, solutions can be found. For instance, Copenhagen Airport and artist Jens-Flemming Sørensen came up with the idea of protecting his fountain from airport trolleys by adding a bronze bumper around its base.

Not surprisingly, many artworks play on travel themes: birds (glass birds by Faeroese artist Trondur Patursson and Danish glass artist Per Steen Hebsgaard soar over Copenhagen's Gate D2), luggage (Seattle features a kinetic artwork by Norman Andersen composed of suitcases twirling over a baggage carousel) and all things soaring (artist Seyed Alavi's Flying Carpet - here2day.netwiz.net/seyedsite/publicart/flyingcarpet/flyingcarpetframe.html - woven with a view of the Sacramento River, lies along a pedestrian bridge in the Sacramento International Airport) are popular.

But the fact that the works are not controversial does not mean that they are not good art. This airport trend reflects a highly democratic approach to art: Placing it in such quotidian spaces reinforces the idea that art is for every day and everybody.
And other major art institutes are getting involved. The Zurich Airport has just begun a partnership with the highly respected Kunsthaus Zurich (http://www.kunsthaus.ch) and next year will present part of the museum's exhibit Shifting Identities - Swiss Art Today (June 6 to Aug. 31).

"At the airport, we will present mostly newly commissioned artworks by 10 different artists," said Björn Quellenberg of the Kunsthaus. "Amongst them is Brian Eno. He will do a work called Music for Airports. ... The Airport Magazine will also publish a special issue, designed by artists."

So the next time your flight is delayed, don't despair: You may have some artistic consolation hanging nearby.