The Public is in West Bromwich and is run by Sandwell Arts Trust. It describes itself as "an exciting creative, community, cultural and business space in the heart of West Bromwich". After my visit, I have to agree with the statement about it being exciting and creative.
It opened in 2009 and there was controversy all the way. It is built in one of the most deprived areas in the UK and locals thought the money spent to build it could've been well spent elsewhere. The design by Will Alsop is he says "his finest creation to date". The inside is pretty unusual, very family friendly and currently has a lot of interactive exhibits. After visiting, and then reading he following statement by the venue, I feel they have a place where this can happen, whether or not it does for other people I don't know. "The Public also has a role in making the arts more accessible to a community which traditionally has low participation in the creative industries. We are a place where people who don’t normally feel comfortable in arts venues can enjoy themselves, feel welcomed and are confident to experience new things. In essence, The Public is a creative place, inspiring art and changing lives".
It opened in 2009 and there was controversy all the way. It is built in one of the most deprived areas in the UK and locals thought the money spent to build it could've been well spent elsewhere. The design by Will Alsop is he says "his finest creation to date". The inside is pretty unusual, very family friendly and currently has a lot of interactive exhibits. After visiting, and then reading he following statement by the venue, I feel they have a place where this can happen, whether or not it does for other people I don't know. "The Public also has a role in making the arts more accessible to a community which traditionally has low participation in the creative industries. We are a place where people who don’t normally feel comfortable in arts venues can enjoy themselves, feel welcomed and are confident to experience new things. In essence, The Public is a creative place, inspiring art and changing lives".
Their visitor numbers have now exceed 250,000 since opening. Some photographs of the interior are shown below. When you walk through the pink doors you are greeted by space and colour. You access the exhitions via a ramp which runs up the centre of the whole building and during the walk (slow one as there's plenty to see and interact with en route) you look up and just keep seeing more and more pieces of art at different angles.
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| Fondly known at the Yam Yam (the tram to West Bromwich a 15 minute journey from Birmingham) |
One of the art installations was by Paul Sermon - Telepresent Embrace consisting simply of two large screens, two benches and a camera on each screen to record whoever sits on the benches "It is a set of linked cameras that allow visitors to occupy the same screen as one another despite being in a different physical location in the gallery. Visitors sit on either a wooden or grey sofa and then appear on a screen located in front of the sofa. The exhibit is set up in such a way that the screen will show a combination of two camera views.".. Paul says of his work "Since the early nineteen-nineties my practice-based research in the field of contemporary media art has centred on the creative use of telecommunication technologies. Through my unique use of videoconference techniques in artistic telepresence applications I have developed a series of celebrated telematic art installations that have received international acclaim and have been cited on numerous occasions amongst my peers in this field..." (http://www.paulsermon.org/)
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