A Flaneur’s Struggle

How does public art reflect or challenge the town of Manitou Springs?  As an outsider, a flaneur, I believe Manitou Springs is not challenged by the display of public art and or specifically challenged by it.  The struggle for Manitou Springs lies in the ability to generate revenue versus being able to maintain the semblance of natural beauty of the surrounding area.  Take away all the little shops, the asphalt streets, and the buildings, and Manitou Springs doesn’t need art, art commissions, or tours, because the natural beauty is all around for those who wish to view it.  For those who really wish to view it!

The conflict here is a conflict of modernism versus naturalism.  So, what do you do, the town is already there.  The buildings are not going away, the old arcade will continue to steal quarters from unsuspecting children.  It is the way our system is run.  Everyone needs to make revenue to survive.  That includes the town of Manitou Springs.  In actuality, the idea that the town is an artsy friendly place is more of a gimmick that that of realism.  This is how Manitou Springs makes its revenue to support its little town.  This draws people that love art, can promote and sell their art, and thus the cycle or marketing and capitalism takes its’ natural place.

As a flaneur, I walk alone.  I see the streets, the multiple shops and building.  I see the tree’s beyond the buildings and wish I could take a picture of pure natural beauty.  Not, that the buildings do not have a beauty of their own, but finding a shot of pure nature is almost impossible until you leave town.  I try to get pictures of the art displayed around town to justify this intrusion on nature.  I look for art in the way of natural beauty but even the guardian sculptors around town and flummoxed by the appearance of modernism in each shot.  I am discouraged, but finally in my meandering, the buildings cease, the sidewalks meltaway, and a pure shot of beauty crosses my path.  My postmodernistic capture device flickers as I take my shot.  In any other setting, a small victory might be declared, but in the eye of the flaneur, I am still cautiously optimistic.  The natural beauty of Manitou Springs is not completely gone.