Bristol City Council is to blame for providing the paint used to create a crumbling city centre artwork without testing it properly first, Bristol Live understands.
The art installation — known as Our Common Ground — has become an embarrassing eyesore in Bristol, deteriorating badly and needing to be repainted at least once since its grand unveiling on the Centre Promenade in September.
What once was a vibrant artwork is now dirty, chipped and in a generally poor condition, with ratepayers footing the bill for repairs.
Our Common Ground was created by the artist Oshii and installed by creatives from Upfest, the team responsible for the festival of the same name and several non-crumbling pieces of street art around the city.
However, it was the council which supplied the specific materials used to paint the artwork, Bristol Live has been informed. The paints were not tested first, on the basis they had been used on other road surfaces around the city, but the council insisted they be used to create the now-infamous artwork.
The artwork cost £61,000, half of which came from Bristol City Council. The council has yet to take responsibility for the mess Our Common Ground has become, despite council deputy leader Heather Mack describing it as embarrassing during a recent appearance on the BBC’s Politics West.
The paint has faded rapidly and completely worn away in places(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
The artwork was created using “a specialist road line marking paint that is water-based and intended to be used on the ground,” according to the council’s website. Councillor Andrew Brown, chair of BCC’s economy and skills committee, insisted the issues with the paint were nobody’s fault in particular.
“It’s clear that the damage the artwork has experienced is not through individual nor any organisation fault, but rather an unforeseeable result of how the specialist paint has adhered to the surface it was painted on,” he said.
“The paint used is the same that’s used across the city with no issues reported, presenting ample evidence of its effectiveness. To use this paint was an appropriate approach for this project.”
“Our Common Ground” when it was first unveiled(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach PLC)
The project was also not put out to a public tender despite £31,000 of its budget coming from the council, Bristol Live understands. The rest of the funding was provided by the City Centre Business Improvement District.
Since speaking to Councillor Brown, Bristol Live has gone back to the council to confirm it was the organisation responsible for choosing the paint, rather than the artist or any other party. We also asked why no testing was done on the section of the Promenade where Our Common Ground is located before work began to make sure the paint was appropriate for that particular surface.
The council did not reply to Bristol Live’s requests for further comment.
The Bristol heart quickly deteriorated (picture taken in December)(Image: PAUL GILLIS / Reach Plc)
For now, the council’s official position is that the artwork will be repainted and maintained as necessary rather than being scrapped entirely. However, repainting can only be done in dry weather conditions with temperatures above 10C – and by the council’s estimate will cost between £3,000 and £5,000 a year, money which wasn’t in the scope of the original £61,0000 budget.
“Officers will continue to meet with all parties involved in the project and discuss options for sustainable solutions,” Cllr Brown said.
“The artwork remains important as a central feature of the city’s efforts to reimagine Centre Promenade as an inclusive public space, where art, heritage and community intersect.”