Art is defined by its particularity, difference and the interconnections of lived experience; while the public sphere is comprised of people in a shared environment or community as well as a site of exchange, contestation and transformation. How can we understand the uniqueness and specificity of art in the public sphere? What is the public role of art? How does art in the public domain engender new forms of interactions between artists, audiences and communities? This course focuses on a range of art practices / projects located outside the space of the museum and gallery and explores key issues relating to art and it publics. Specific attention is given to the various forms and genres of art in the public sphere such as public art, community art, participatory art, social-engaged art and activist art.
Indicative references
Clair Bishop, Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship, London: Verso, 2012
Christopher B. Blame, The Theatrical Public Sphere, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014
Miwon Kwon, One Place after Another: Site-Specific Art and Locational Identity, Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2004
Suzanne Lacy, Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, Bay Press, 1994
Nato Thompson, Living as Form: Socially-Engaged Art from 1991-2011, New York: MTI, 2012
Peter Weibel(ed.), Global aCtIVISm: Art and Conflict in the 21st Century, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2015.
