THE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY OF PUBLIC SCULPTURE

As far as Jorge Palacios is concerned, monumental sculpture must fulfil a “social” function. There must be a justification for it and it must enter into a dialogue with its surroundings. It must have a reason, a meaning, a motive why that sculpture should be there and not anywhere else.

When Palacios prepares an outdoor sculpture for a private organisation but, with all the more reason when he does so for a public-sector body, he believes not only that the sculpture should fulfil an expressive purpose, but also that it should meet certain very strict technical requirements in regard to its durability and the quality of the materials and processes used in making it. He thinks the acquisition of a sculpture with public money must be essentially a long-term investment, a meditated decision to differentiate oneself and enrich citizens through a firm commitment to contemporary art, and not a passing whim that will later entail high conservation and restoration costs.

Similarly, Palacios thinks that sculpture ought not to be a luxury within reach of a privileged few, but a kind of public access to culture and contemporary creation.