Proposal

Employee Art Commission Project Proposal

The work that I am proposing for commission is part of a larger project called "Urban Squares". I have been developing it for the last five years. It consists of an intensive collection of urban square images. The photos have been taken in more than 15 countries, stitched together as 360? panoramas and prepared in two formats, a QuickTimeVR that can be viewed as an interactive movie, and a version prepared for printing at up to 20" x 150". As an integral part of this collection a classification system was developed. There are two parts to this system: categories of the types of squares and an evaluation method.

By classifying and then analyzing the elements of a square, I slowly began to realize that there is a similarity between the city and a living organism. We can treat cities as entities with collective intelligence and, with the same analogy, we can recognize a system by which the urban space communicates with us. The square, as a city's "heart and soul", has the most to say, so recently I concentrated my artistic exploration on the language of urban squares.

The vocabulary of urban squares is part of a complex language of art; it is a dialect with very specific characteristics. Elements have their individual meanings, but when combined create new messages. Architectural elements, signage systems, graffiti and many other forms of urban art follow each other in a continuous stream, they surround us and direct our movements, they are given to us in a form on which we, as individuals, have very little effect. Still, we are the only ones that can attempt to interpret them and use their messages in order to understand and try to create more sustainable and habitable cities.

The level on which squares communicate transcends every day life. Careful observation and a lot of passion are necessary in order to interpret/translate their messages. Many urban experts write and lecture on the topic of cities. In my work, I try to match those thoughts with my interpretation of the urban square.

This project is a hybrid between a scientific and an artistic approach to the subject. I am aware that this narrow path between them might be speculative and perhaps not 100% accurate, but the objective is to have more freedom in interpreting the facts, and then provoke action from interested and influential people. I am planning a series of public appearances, conferences, lectures and exhibitions. A promotional booklet has been printed and it is included in this package.

Most of the work done on Urban Squares is available on my web site http://www.urbansquares.com. The art piece that I am proposing for commission is a digital art print from the "The Language of Urban Squares" series. The image of the square is black and white to help visually separate it from the message, which is in colour. For that same reason all other visual communication is eliminated from the image. It is printed on Chromira archival paper and with permanent inks, the size is 92" x 18.4". On the next couple of pages you will see scaled down versions of several of those prints. They are intended to be exhibited mounted between two plexiglas pieces 96" x 20.4" separated from the wall by 2", (almost as if floating in space). I would be very glad to see the artwork in some area of Seneca with lot of traffic of students, faculty and staff. Accompanying the piece I would like to see a short description of the intention of the “Urban Squares” project which is: “to be a forum for free expression and exchange of ideas, and to inspire a new age of urban art as a contribution to the process of improvements in urban life”.

Being the largest city college I see Seneca as an important player in this process. Other parts of this large project are also available for possible commission, details could be discussed if I get the opportunity to present samples or additional materials to the Committee.

Aleksandar Janicijevic