Most people who are successful in business and have a passion for art indulgence themselves with expensive collections to enjoy quietly and privately. Not so David Bermant.
The concept is revolutionary in several ways. First, these aren't conventional sculptures. No gigantic and heroic figures. No pretty flowers on canvas. No scenic mosaics. These require something from the viewer - attention and thought and an open-minded disposition. A willingness to confront the unusual and enter into the spirit of the artist's conception.
Of course, the location is clearly out-of-the-ordinary. The art is right there in public. Bermant put sculptures amid cars, and shoppers toting their dry-cleaning and drug prescriptions. Amid people as they live their daily lives.
Bermant believed that the most vital art of one's time was art which incorporated the underlying reality of the world, as discovered by the science of the day. Current science focuses on time and the concept of relativity. According to this philosophy art that incorporates time, movement, motion, or change is the most vital of all. "It is the art of our time which will endure," said Bermant in an early interview.
And the public responded both with acclaim and criticism. It's public art, but not necessarily what the public wants, expects, or can understand.
Oddly enough, sometimes good deeds are rewarded. Although he didn't placed art for economic reasons, and indeed often had to withstand an onslaught of negative publicity, art turned out to be good for business.
The function of art, according to Bermant, is to awaken us to the very life we're living. He felt his job was to help us get there. He has been responsible for placing more than 100 works of art in shopping centers and then transportation hubs.
Sadly, Bermant died in 2000. But his legacy lives through his art in public spaces and The David Bermant Foundation: Color, Light, Motion. Learn more about it at http://bermant.arts.ucla.edu.
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