When I was in England two weeks ago there was quite a bit of chatter going on about the newly-launched Folkestone Triennial, an attempt to revitalize the British seaside town with an infusion of top-notch contemporary art. Had I had my wits about me I could have hopped on a train and spent a day wandering about myself, but maybe I'll just have to plan a trip around the next one. This is exactly what the organizers are hoping, that the lure of names of like Tracey Emin, Tacita Dean and Mark Wallinger will attract tourists and new business, but the public art in the triennial is also designed to appeal to the locals and is scattered around town like a treasure hunt. For Emin's piece Baby Things the artist created miniature sculptures of infant accessories painted to look realistic and then left them out in the open. Rachel Cooke describes coming upon a tiny cardigan draped over a railing:
It turns out that, once your eye is in, you can see this piece, bright
against the grime, for miles around. Baby Things is intended as a
commentary on Folkestone's high rates of teenage pregnancy. But there
among the dandelions and the chip wrappers, it calls to you like a tiny
blaze of hope.
A small teddy bear Emin placed at the train station might even be too inconspicuous:
Daphne Hitchcock is sitting on the bench and had not even noticed it.
"I'm afraid it needs to be a bit bigger. If I had seen it I'm afraid I
would have just thought it was a child's toy and left it."
The Guardian has some highlights from the Triennial in a gallery here, though for a picture of Mark Dion's brilliant mobile gull appreciation unit just go here.