Cristianos se ofenden por obra de arte

Obra artística que presenta una iglesia alrevez va a ser removida ya que el público siente que la obra "ofende sus creencias cristianas".

Vancouverites may not know art, but they know what they want in their public parks -- and it apparently doesn't include a sculpture of a church driven upside-down into the ground by its steeple.

The controversial Coal Harbour sculpture, titled Device to Root Out Evil, is on the hit list in a report heading for the parks board next week.

If the board approves the staff recommendation, the seven-storey sculpture could be carted off within 60 days.

The work, the creation of American artist Dennis Oppenheim, was placed in Harbour Green Park on Cordova Street as part of the Vancouver Biennale sculpture festival in 2005.

It was put on display for 18 months under the board's standard terms for public-art displays, and critics of the piece have been assured the display was only short-term.

But it has now been offered on loan to the city for an extended period -- much to the horror of some area residents, who made impassioned pleas to the board to remove the work that offends both their religious and aesthetic sensibilities.

Another of the 2005 works proved more popular. The board will debate making finding a permanent spot for the piece known as Echoes. The stainless-steel chairs, each with an evocative word etched into their seats, have been on display at Sunset Beach.

The staff report recommends against extending Device's 18-month period and notes that "public response to the work has been mixed, with a greater proportion of the response being negative." It also says that "a technical analysis of the siting has determined the work is not comfortably accommodated for an extended period."

Complaints included that the piece blocked views of the water and took up too much of the tiny green space on which it sits. Other residents said it simply offended their Christian beliefs to see a church turned upside-down.

Michaela Frosch, chairwoman of the Vancouver Biennale, has said the group is working with the foundation that owns it to find another public setting.

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