Giant noodles? It's a taste of city's street art

Works such as Seung Yul Oh's OnDo are seen around the city.

A giant sized cluster of noodles hanging from a chopstick, an interactive projection of a Chinese ink wash landscape and little bronze cartoon-like statues are among a number of visual displays cropping up on the Auckland streetscape in recent months.

This mixture of street art, some permanent and some more short-lived, are part of a growing push to not just beautify our streetscape but to give it a sense of local and cultural identity.

Advocates for art in the public domain maintained it was more than just decoration, rather it added cultural and economic value to the city, attracting visitors and re-vitalising public spaces.

Chair of Albert-Eden board, Peter Haynes, said public art had a dual focus of improving the attractiveness of a street and gave locals a "sense of place" and was more than just "art for art's sake".

He said it had the potential to support economic development, create jobs, attract visitors and create a sense of identity and place.

This was certainly the story in Vienna, ranked second in Monocle's Quality of Life Survey 2015, which had, since its historic centre was labelled a UNESCO heritage site in 2001, put a greater focus on enhancing its urban space around the wider city.

As Johannes Suitner, postdoctoral researcher in urban studies at the Vienna University of Technology said, in his book Imagineering Cultural Vienna, there has been a growing realisation of the role culture plays in revitalising a city.

"It is thus not surprising that within the last years both departments and the Fund for Art in Public Space have put a noticeable focus on pioneering artistry and creating projects that deal with urban development and regeneration of areas of the city."

Back in Auckland, the Albert-Eden Local Board was building on this transformative power of culture. It had, in collaboration with local businesses, enabled art works to be installed along Dominion Road in a project titled The People's Dominion.

"These works that we have gathered to celebrate acquit themselves wonderfully on all counts," Mr Haynes said. "They also inspire a smile, a reflection, a host of reactions from those who view them."

Auckland Council's Arts and Culture manager, Kaye Glaumazina, said this growing presence of community art was enabled in large part by the SuperCity and a public art policy, developed in 2013, that's given a greater coordinated focus on art in the public space.

"We are always looking at new ways of engaging audiences and servicing Auckland's diversity," she said. "I want every Aucklander to have a quality art experience every week of the year."