Flo Kasearu says good art should positively provoke

Artist Flo Kasearu told ERR at the president’s reception in the rose garden that art should positively provoke people and that good art has many layers, like a celebration cake.

Kasearu’s equestrian monument to Alma Ostra-Oinas has prompted both positive and negative reactions. “As an artist, I am flattered that so many people wanted to express an opinion about it,” she said. “It would be very sad if you put a work in public space and nobody cared or had any emotions about it.”

For Kasearu personally, the period has also been interesting because it is the first time she has placed something permanently in an urban environment. She said it could take up to a year for people to get used to the work, after which even those who have been highly critical might take pictures next to it.

“Estonians adapt quickly. They got used to it within a couple of months,” Kasearu said, adding that there could be more art programmes and more contemporary art in public spaces to help people adapt even faster to different forms of contemporary art.

“Art could positively provoke. If you get irritated the first time, the irritation is smaller the next time, and by the third time perhaps other thoughts begin to emerge,” she said.