temporary services in Redfern

I remember seeing the work by Temporary Services "Public Sculpture Opinion Poll on Bower" just outside of Redfern station. I was walking to Redfern station, as I live in the area,and thought it was a really interesting idea. I had no idea it was an art work, and thought it was probably some activist group agitating to create voices, to think about your own sense of ownership within the space. I was kind of on the fly so took down the email whereby you could email your responses rather than write it up there. As is the case for many bits of paper i take down notes from the street I forgot about this too unfortunately. However when I saw

Whilst I forgot to email when I saw it the work again at the exhibition "There goes the Neighbourhood" I realised it's impact had not been lost. This project reminded me of the lack of presence I had in that space. Suddenly I was asked to engage with my sense of autonomy within the space I resided, and the way in which such public art exists in such an dictorial way that we never question it's legitimacy. The work was really interesting as it engaged people with art in a very different way. Though the act of questioning it enabled me to question the role of that installation in the local community and the role public art should play - Who has the say about what is installed in our public spaces?

I wondered at the time if it mattered that people may well not have seen it as an art work.. and now I think it really didn't matter. The questions it raises I think are more important than that.