Interview with Robin Brailsford — A Deep Understanding and Passion for Public Art
By: Thejas Jagannath
Tags: Interaction Design, Art, Public Art, Public Space, Artist Opinion

Interview with Robin Brailsford — A Deep Understanding and Passion for Public Art Thejas Jagannath Follow Jun 25 · 15 min read

Source: Robin Brailsford

When I first saw images of Robin Brailsford’s public artworks, on social media, I was drawn and captivated. Creativity is at the essence of her art works. Her art is fascinating and interactive at the same time. Although it takes a long process for the art to be made and commissioned, it feels like the response and engagement from the public via the interactive nature of her artworks, makes it all the more worth it! Robin’s art can be seen in many cities around the USA, with her public art installations in public spaces of Los Angeles, California and Las Vegas, Nevada.

Robin Brailsford has been a pioneer and champion for public art, with an MFA in Sculpture. She has received numerous awards and recognition for her public art. Robin has a patent for LithoMosaic which is “a process for setting mosaics in monolithic concrete pours.”

LithoMosaic — Mosaic and Concrete — Robin Brailsford: Inventor

This is an interview, which tries to gain information about her artworks, her views on public art processes, interaction with public art, and how she goes about producing them. She also speaks about her views on COVID-19 and BLM.

You can access the interview below:

Thejas Jagannath:

Can you tell me more about the Convention Center Light Rail Station in LA.? What is the name of that artwork and how was it commissioned?

Robin Brailsford:

Time and Presence is the name of the artwork. It was my first major commission, in the 90’s, via the LA Metro Rail. I entered, was a finalist. I made a major proposal and came in second, but the trendy artist who came in first presented a project that was unsafe for the trains — so they called me back.

It was designed at the time of the Rodney King race riots in Los Angeles and I wanted to make a piece that addressed that discord. The Metro line goes from downtown to the beach via Watts and is the first station on the line above ground after town. So, I explored the perceptual shock of sun and dark, above and below, warm and cold, sheltered and vulnerable.

Time and Presence is about life on the planet before man, before our animosity and perceived human differences. It consists of two pierced and painted steel canopies. In one, Pangea casts its patterned shadows on the platform below, and so a transit user can stand with one foot in Africa and the other in the Americas. Gaia is flanked by a sea turtle representing ancient life in the ocean, and an orchid symbolizing early life on land.

The second canopy is the solar system and mathematical (alchemical) symbols of greater than and less than.

The position of the sun changes the project minute by minute, season by season. It casts meaningful patterns on the passengers and trains below.

Time and Presence Artwork by Robin Brailsford. Photo by Paula Jacoby Garrett

Thejas Jagannath:

What are the material goals when you create art to grab people’s attention?

Robin Brailsford:

Well the material goal is only one — to last. The LA Metro project has been installed for several decades, and has required no maintenance. That is the material goal.

I AM very interested in the ground plane though — through shadow, distance, LithoMosaic etc…. and through light, glass and jewelry.

Social justice is never far from the fore.

Thejas Jagannath:

Are your artworks site specific and permanent?

Robin Brailsford:

All my work is site specific and permanent. I find there is no reason to do temporary, as temporary is the same work and engineering for a much smaller return.

Thejas Jagannath:

What are the most effective responses you get from viewers of your public art?

Robin Brailsford:

Hmm great question.

The best by far is little kids wanting to lie down with their stomachs against the LithoMosaic plazas. Little kids — to teenagers — seem to want and need to get the energy and color and light right up against their core. They can feel and need the energy. That innate response is awesome!

Then, there was literally everyone who came to see The Grand Canyons of La Jolla, in the big studio at Scripps Institute of Oceanography…. they would walk in and LOOK and clap their hands in front of their open mouths and say something like; “HOLY MACKEREL!” or, “WOW that’s a MASTERPIECE!”……everyone from world class oceanographers to the Mayor of San Diego to Arctic explorers to Parisian artists. That is gratifying!

Future Plaza, Pioneer Modernism Park, Lemon Grove, CA Robin Brailsford Public Art: Source

Thejas Jagannath:

Do people revisit your artwork?

Robin Brailsford:

Well with art in public places, they don’t have much choice! Time and Presence at the Convention Center light rail station in LA that has been there for decades, so every commuter on that line sees it twice a day, 5 days a week. Lakers’ fans see it every game, and attendees at a convention see it several times a day for a week…. Kids have grown up with it.

Kids grow up with my work.

River of Life Bus Shelters by Robin Brailsford. Santa Monica Downtown Transit Mall, Santa Monica, CA.

Thejas Jagannath:

How do you create a sense of place?

Robin Brailsford:

Research, research, research. I got an MA and my MFA from the University of New Mexico where they treat the MFA as a PhD (terminal degree.) To achieve that level, we had to write a thesis — and much as I rebelled about the work of it at the time — — I now write such a paper for every major project that I do. For me, every big project is the equivalent of an MFA. The writing funnels my thoughts and keeps them in order for the ages.

Thejas Jagannath:

Could you tell us about The Grand Canyons of La Jolla?

Robin Brailsford:

To find out more about the project see the website and link below: https://www.codaworx.com/projects/5b108c394a287/

According to the website, the goal and process of the project of The Grand Canyons of La Jolla is:

Goal

“The goal is simple — to give the hundreds of the beach’s thousands of local, and international yearly visitors a kinetic sense of wonder and beauty for the bright surface of the Cove down to active tectonic, pitch black dark canyons below.

Our client was the 100 year old Father of Modern Oceanography, Walter Munk, so the bar was set very high… for art and education.

Now that it is installed, tech experts are working with biologists, on an app so that from one’s phone. A camera focused on a shark, for instance, will transfer the viewer to a video of the shark in its habitat, and other fascinating details. Some of these fish can breathe air, walk on the fins, electrocute their prey or travel thousands of miles…. So it will be a fun and fascinating interaction.

All the lifeforms are depicted at life size, and we purposely worked to make the plaza timeless — roads are minimal, Kumeaay villages and climate change are inferred.”

Process

“When first approached with the commission, the clients had no aspirations of including Walter Munk’s landmark 1947 paper, “The Grand Canyons of La Jolla,” nor were they hoping for more than 50 fish, had no predators, no whale, no humans and only 12 levels to the canyons. For us, the opportunity was too great to just create a benign “The Map,” (for divers) that they proposed.

As kismet would have it, it seems we achieved all to stunning results. The play of light over the matte and glass tiles is eerily like the surface of the water, yet the depth of the canyons can clearly be understood. The depiction of the Helen Browning Scripps Pier gives the landscape an immediate scale, and the skill of the artists (Robin as Lead, and on slow, flat or big fishes — like a whale, skates, and sunfish: Wick on sharks and all fish that are fast; Kelsey Hartley on birds, and Mariah Armstrong Conner on color palette and water.) Of course, there are exceptions to that rule, as we all pitched in on everything, but as in ancient mosaics, the hand of each artist can be seen with that direction.

Because of COVID, the project is not yet open to the public.”

Grand Canyons of La Jolla

Thejas Jagannath:

How do you recognize when people interact with your artworks?

Robin Brailsford:

Well, I really don’t see them! The creation process is secluded and private (La Jolla being an exception) and I tend not to visit the works when they are done. I know the works by heart, and while it is heartening to see kids playing or selfies being taken, it can be painful — if the maintenance isn’t great or the client’s programming of the site is lax — and my body remembers all the WORK that went into them — so a nap is often lovely and necessary after revisiting work.

I will say that my work is NEVER vandalized, so I take that as the public understanding that I make the work FOR them, versus, TO them. (The exception to the vandalism issue is that public art is often derailed by stodgy white men in seeming positions of governmental power. Fear is a powerful factor. Oh let me count the ways….!)

Thejas Jagannath:

Are your artworks tactile in nature? Do you consider tactile art as a key component of your art process?

Robin Brailsford:

I go for visual as well as touch tactility. I believe that pattern makes one sane and joyful, and plain makes one not. I do think about the temperature of the work, and the climate: to touch, sight and comfort.

TRUISMS are the goal, to entertain once, and over time, the Endowed Chair of the subject I am presenting, as well as the child in their charge.

I strive for my work to be true, on all levels.

I look for the potential in people, places and things, and then strive to realize that potential.

I often find that on a big design team, as the Public Artist, I am the CONSCIENCE of the project.

Robin Brailsford Public Art: Source. Shoreline Stroll, Long Beach Transit Gallery, Long Beach, CA

Thejas Jagannath:

What is the paperwork involved with the city council/policymakers?

Robin Brailsford:

Ha! Go to the Café website (call for entries) and make a real go to apply for a project or two. That will give you a hint. The problem with the paperwork to apply for a project is that every request is convoluted and different. The number of images, size of images, videos/no videos, font size, length of resume, length of letter, why you adore their city, references are all different and there is absolutely no room for creativity — So each and every application can be a week’s worth of work.

I work on an invitation only basis now. I have asked around, and many other artists also feel that Cafe has made the process so “democratic” that they have killed the creativity. The public art application process is now geared towards architecture offices with staff dedicated to just applications. It is no longer worth it for independent artists such as myself.

Cafe RFQ’s often get 500 applications, for one slot. There has to be a better way. Part of it is that cities are understaffed no so Cafe does all the work for them, and the more that enter, the more work for them. If the cities would be very, very specific in exactly what they are looking, for, that would cut the number of applications down to a more sane amount of artists making a go for it….and the juries would not have to go through thousands and thousands of images.

As to contracts, if it is a big city, their contract is written for massive infrastructure projects that do not apply to artists. These contracts can be dozens of pages long, and changes are only rarely accepted. A big sticking point is that they always ask for professional development insurance, which we cannot get, as there is no terminal, PhD degree for art.

Thejas Jagannath:

How does your project get approved and how many months/years does it normally take?

Robin Brailsford:

Every project is different. There is no normal. I have had big projects go in from start to finish in one year, if the client and team are motivated by grant deadlines.

The Irwindale project, as part of the Metro Goldline construction, took 10 years.

I am still trying to get Bird Park finished and that has been almost 30 years!

Thejas Jagannath:

Do you follow the principles of urbanism in public spaces, when you create your public art?

Robin Brailsford:

Yes and no.

I read vociferously… hence the extensive bibliographies in the COLD CALL/MUSEUM AS MUSE newsletter, and thesis-like project proposals….but I tend not to jump on board with the current trends — most of which I have been doing on my own for decades. Check out my project biblioographies and you will see where my inspiration comes from — in short — deeper and deeper — found through science, poetry, story, history, beauty, legacy.

Thejas Jagannath:

How has COVID-19 affected your work as an artist?

Robin Brailsford:

COVID-19 for us has been wonderful. As an artist who has run the gauntlet of life and career completely contrary to societal advice and wisdom (“live in the suburbs, get a 9–5, marry a doctor etc.”) this moment has proved my choices to be spot on. I turned 65 a few years ago so have insurance and a small regular income because of social security. Congress sent me $1200 and is offering me (forgivable) small business loans and, “low and behold!”, a furlough on my mortgage. That would NEVER have happened before COVID.

With my partner Wick Alexander I live in the country with a big studio, loaded with supplies and nice dogs and so we have nothing but time and inspiration to fill our days. Wick is making masterful paintings; I am making jewelry — really good jewelry, and more output that I did for my BFA in Metalsmithing. We are lucky in our timing and location. Our parents have passed, the house is built, we have no need for, or access to social concerns.

The news however, IS beyond terrible, I fear for our democracy and climate. We do stay very well informed, and I take my role as aunt and mentor very seriously, and do my best daily, to be a wise thinker and doer.

Thejas Jagannath:

How do you think your work is likely to contribute in the future?

Robin Brailsford:

Unanswerable: I can only do my best. You tell me.

Thejas Jagananth:

I feel it might have an effect on our public spaces and how we conduct our everyday lives, also inevitably impacting public art and how they are used by the public.

Thejas Jagannath:

Do you think tactile art/interaction with art will still be present after COVID-19?

Robin Brailsford:

It is interesting to me that the word “tactile” comes up often in your questions…. so I want to ask you — “what does that mean to you and why is it important? What is the translation of the word ‘tactile’ for you?”

The Grand Canyons of La Jolla, LithoMosaic detail.

Thejas Jagannath:

Tactile art, is the concentration of my Master’s thesis. The title of the thesis was People’s Interaction with Public Art in Public Spaces within New Zealand. I studied how interaction and engagement with public art is useful for the community. That’s the reason for the question regarding ‘tactile.’ I am interested in the various movements people make with public art rather than just observing…. like really immersing themselves through bodily experiences. That might reduce now with COVID-19, although we cannot be sure.

Thejas Jagannath:

The Black Lives Matter Movement has led to the removal of many oppressive statues around the world, affecting public art. How do you think this will contribute to public art in the near future?

Robin Brailsford:

It’s an interesting fact that they are tearing down history, and one will always think their own beliefs are far above and beyond the previous ideology. What of the Roman churches built over pagan sacred sites? Taliban blowing up Buddhist carvings in Aleppo? It’s a slippery slope, aligned too with male dominance and power brokering. There are holocaust museums.… What is happening to the sculptures and the artists’ work? and legacy? Should these statues be housed as ‘degenerate art’? Melt them down like Inca and Mayan gold? Can we look past the physical sculptures, and disassemble the thought processes that erected and maintained them in the first place? Create work about that in their place?

What do you think?

Thejas Jagananth:

I think that the statues convey an oppressed and a racist past that should not be celebrated in any way. It is a symbol of one racial group showing superiority over another, which is very much still prevalent, even though in indirect ways. In order for us, to globally achieve equality and understanding between all racist groups, it is important we create more cohesive and symbols of multiculturalism and inclusion in the public spaces.

Robin Brailsford:

Agreed!

On a bright note, I think it does open up opportunities. I’ll give an example. For thirty years I have been the steward of BIRD PARK in San Diego, trying to get the public art elements finally funded and installed. A few weeks ago there was an incident in New York’s Central Park, where a white woman in a birding area called the police on a black man who remarked on her off-leash dog. It turns out, he is on the Board of the Audubon Society and is Harvard educated. She was acting on her (maybe legitimate?) fear. Does it make a difference who he was? Does it make a difference who she was?

That incident has started a movement called “Black Birders.” BIRD PARK could be a platform for these different sorts of groups to meet and understand one another. So art can help heal, and be non-judgmental.

BIRD PARK (6 acre) map and interpretive panel, San Diego, Ca

Statues are an old-fashioned idea, but parks and open spaces and PLATFORMS that allow for the expression of diverse ideas and learning — that is the work I think we should be embarking on, in this shocking and riveting decade of ours.

Thejas Jagananth:

Do you conduct any kind of workshops/classes?

Robin Brailsford:

I don’t. I rarely teach anymore — though I did have excellent stints at the University of New Mexico and Loyola Marymount University. I was a superb teacher, if I do say so myself; the College Art Association wrote that I was the best in the department at LMU, despite being a part-timer. The Dean would not give me a living wage though, so I moved on to Young at Art in San Diego and then my own work exclusively.

Occasionally I will teach a workshop — at Corning Museum of Glass last year, and would like to do Haystack and Pilchuck too — that would be a nice, “just rewards” sort of annual gig.

I do train artists as needed in LithoMosaic, and I am a founding member or Public Address (www.publicaddressart.net) Check out the Library documents for my contributions (and interviews!)

Field of Play, Frisco, Texas

Thejas Jagannath:

What are your future plans?

Robin Brailsford: Creative Capital, in their workshops, gives a daunting assignment: “Write your obituary.” The trick of course is that, 1. One never thinks of that — or prefers not to, and 2. One has no idea when one is going to die, so the writing becomes aspirational and non-specific.

I have lots of big plans, and if I won a MacArthur of Guggenheim (nice, but highly unlikely!) I would spend all the money on my work. My mother (FrancesWosmek.com) used to say none of her best work was ever published. I would say the same about mine — the best is waiting in the wings for an encore.

I would like to complete all my major projects, as designed and approved, but never installed or completed…. in San Diego: BIRD PARK and Miramar Water Treatment Plant; in Albuquerque: Territory of Magic; in Phoenix: Ed Pastor Transit Mall. Then there is the whole COLD CALL/Museum as Muse series (Facebook Link) for the museums in Tacoma WA, Syracuse NY, Toledo OH, Corning NY and Salem MA. And third, if I really had my druthers I would also make parks of the entrances to the USA from Mexico and Canada They are now looking like battle grounds and are not welcoming or optimistic in any way — rather vast illuminated truck depots and Border Patrol zones. Our own border crossing here, between Tecate MX and Tecate US is at the end of Highway 94 — the Martin Luther King Highway. How awesome would it be for a MLK Park welcoming travelers to California? We are ready, have designed a large sculptural icon of opening doors for the park and there is plenty of open land for sale.

So, I guess the answer is, “And yes, and yet she persisted.”

To know more about Robin Brailsford’s public artworks and the various projects she’s been involved in, please visit her at www.RobinBrailsford.com