Archive: what we get from it
DISCUSSION ON ART IN PUBLIC SPACE
Art in public space defines itself above all through an inherent relationship to the site it is placed in and not just by being situated in places that are publicly accessible. The basis of the work is on-site research, thinking about a specific place.
Through their works for public space, artists comment, often critically, on societal tendencies. Increasingly in their works they negotiate historical and social aspects, i.e. political reality.
The invitation to pursue the questions that they raise with their artistic interventions everywhere is like a continual challenge to follow the train of thought. It is directed at everyone who uses public space every day. The ability of the observers to find a reading of the artistic manifestation and to be able to share it with others is an assumed precondition.
Does the public site, charged through art, change the perception of its users, and do the transformations encourage the appropriation of familiar spaces in previously unknown ways?
Do discussions on works of art that reflect the specific phenomena of public space lead to greater readiness to participate in debates and to make these into public concerns?
In search of answers, we have been accompanied by the idea that commitment and an awareness of responsibility for public affairs can be strengthened through a communal effort to find a language with majority support for dealing with art.
Tamara Grcic / artist, Frankfurt (D)
Dirck Möllmann/ Raumsichten curator, Nordhorn (D), (from 1 Jun. 2012) curator of the Institut für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz (A)
Karl Prüller / Kulturvernetzung, Reinsberg (A)
Concept and moderation
Bärbl Zechner
cooperation with: publicart.at
