Love it or hate it, public art gets people talking. A Canadian project called Wishing Well<\/em><\/strong> has revved up the debate once again.<\/p>\n

Commissioned by the city of Calgary in 2012, Wishing Well<\/em> is a stainless steel sculpture five metres tall and split at the apex into two hemispheres. Visitors stand between the two hemispheres and text a message to the ball inside. Microprocessors re-interpret the text into sound and light.<\/p>\n

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Wishing Well Sculpture<\/strong> (Image via NY Daily News)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s designed and built by Living Lenses<\/strong>, a Californian company comprised of Louise Bertelsen and Po Shu Wang who like to build interactivity into the pieces they create. Hence the cleft between the hemispheres. The trouble is, the sun\u2019s reflection almost burned a hole in a visitor\u2019s jacket while inside the cleft and although she wasn\u2019t hurt, her complaint prompted the city to erect a fence around the piece to keep people away. Interactivity of the dangerous kind, the city reckoned.<\/p>\n

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Wishing Well Sculpture<\/strong> (Image via City of Calgary)<\/p>\n

The installation cost CAD $ 559,000, part of Calgary\u2019s commitment of allocating one percent of its infrastructure budget on public art. The city finally removed Wishing Well<\/em> from a community centre last week.<\/p>\n

Wishing Well<\/em> is reminiscent of another reflective sculpture, Cloud Gate<\/em><\/strong> or as it\u2019s more commonly called, The Bean<\/em><\/strong>, a Chicago landmark. \u00a0It too went through a difficult birth. Designed by East Indian artist Anish Kapoor<\/strong> in 2004, the sculpture was plagued by construction delays – it\u2019s made up of 168 stainless steel plates; the welds meticulously sanded to create a seamless surface – and cost overruns. The original budget of six million dollars ballooned to 23 million. Here too, there was a concern over public safety. Reflected heat in the summer, cold in the winter.<\/p>\n

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Bean Sculpture<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Bean<\/em><\/strong> gives visitors a unique and personal reflection of the immediate surroundings. There are times when it\u2019s hard to tell where the sculpture ends and the sky begins. Like Wishing Well<\/em>, visitors can get up close and personal by walking into the sculpture, or more specifically, underneath its centre point.<\/p>\n

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Despite the delays, The Bean<\/em> was unveiled in 2006 and has since become a popular and iconic destination with tourists and locals.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, back in Calgary, removing Wishing Well<\/em> has unleashed a war of words, underscoring an issue that divides its citizens. \u201cWithout art we have no soul,\u201d says one online Calgarian. \u201cStop buying this crap and use the money to pay off public debt,\u201d says another.<\/p>\n

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Wishing Well<\/em> has been returned to the artists who are trying to correct the reflection problem. The Bean<\/em> continues to enthrall and enchant.<\/p>\n

Bean Sculpture Images \u00a9 John Thomson<\/p>\n

+\u00a0Living Lenses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

+\u00a0Cloud Gate<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

+\u00a0Anish Kapoor<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Love it or hate it, public art gets people talking. A Canadian project called Wishing Well has revved up the debate once again. Commissioned by the city of Calgary in 2012, Wishing Well is a stainless steel sculpture five metres tall and split at the apex into two hemispheres. Visitors stand between the two hemispheres […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":42219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[7334,7333,7336,6954,7335,6633,7337,7332],"yoast_head":"\n