Austin Way Magazine - GreenGale Publishing - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/692367
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN FITZSIMMONS COIN TOSS DANISH ARTISTS ADD SOME FUN TO LAGUNA GLORIA'S FOUNTAIN TERRACE WITH "LOST MONEY." BY KATHY BLACKWELL You want to pick the glittering coins up off the ground, but you can't. For the new "Lost Money" installation at Contemporary Austin's Laguna Gloria, Danish art trio Superflex, with the help of museum board members and staffers, randomly tossed 700 coins on the patio and terrace around Laguna's lake-facing fountain; the artists then affixed the money to the ground exactly where each piece fell. The exhibit, one of several new installations at the 12-acre Betty and Edward Marcus Sculpture Park at Laguna Gloria, takes about $2,000 worth of nickels, dimes, quarters, and rare coins out of circulation, playing on wishful coin tosses into fountains. "The bright Texas sky hitting the coins creates this beautiful, shimmering effect around the fountain," says Contemporary executive d irector Louis Grachos, who was drawn to Superflex after seeing a major public art project they executed in Copenhagen last summer. As Grachos develops the garden's long-term plan, he's drawn to "generous and social- minded" artists like Superflex, whose "Lost Money" might become permanent. Adds Grachos: "It's not expected artwork in a traditional sculpture park. We're trying hard to make it a unique destination where art and nature intersect in interesting ways." 3809 W. 35th St., 512-458- 8191; contemporaryaustin.org . About 700 coins are affixed to the terrace leading up to the fountain at The Contemporary's Laguna Gloria—the century-old villa once owned by iconic Texas philanthropist Clara Driscoll—in a new installation by Danish art group Superflex. "IT'S NOT EXPECTED ARTWORK IN A TRADITIONAL SCULPTURE PARK." —LOUIS GRACHOS 56 AUSTINWAY.COM SCENE INSTALLATION