Donna Hiebert Analysis

Freedom to Interact: The Wave and Travellers Freedom is an element, which is often used as an expression within modern art practice. Artists strive to show their creative process, along with their ideals and truths freely. But what about art that talks about freedom in a literal sense? In Halifax there are two public art sculptures that appear to play with that with the notion of freedom, in very different ways. Donna Hiebert's The Wave is a perfect example of freedom, because it engages with the public in a physical way; or one could argue that Sara Hartland Rowes Travellers the perfect example because it explains freedom from psychological prespective. Regardless of perspective, these pieces engage interaction from folks across the board.

Since 1988 children, teenagers, and adults have climbed ferroconcrete wave, and slipped over its pale blue painted exterior, to continuously run up again. Tourist explores the whole sculpture taking pictures from all different angles. But what does this sculpture have to do with freedom? Well for decades accompanied to this wave, has been a plaque that reads: "For your protection, do not climb". Originally this sculpture was not meant to be climbed; the city of Halifax attempted to erect a chain-link fence which they ended up accomplishing. However, the fence was deeming useless as people started to jump the fence and climb the wave continuously. The people resisted. Even though a lot of public art is not meant to be climbed, Hiebert stated once in an interview with the National Post; “Do I care that people climb on it? No. What interests me is that somehow they are able to experience it for themselves — no matter how they do it — and as an

This 7 panel painting-like Sculpture hangs around the Dartmouth terminus, and was completed in august of 2014. It depicts several of people, waiting, standing, riding, on the bus. Hartland-Row captured many of the activities and kinds of the people who ride the bus. The visuals are very colourful, and perspective is distorted in a very jazzy way; and the line work is very confident and shows movement throughout each of panels. . "The original proposal was of a breeze that blows through the space and conjures up these moments. The flow is still there from the time of day and seasons, but also the shape of the pieces are not rigid" (Hartland-Row, 2014). Like the wind which is free blowing, the bus can be rode by anyone as long as they pay the small fee. As on the mural you can see people freely engaging with their lives and interacting. Hartland-Row shows freedom in a constricted place and shows people's emotions and habits in a contour-like fashion. Many of the people see themselves as one of the folks on these panels, and can only really see them while they are getting off or on the