Public art

The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that has been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the public domain, usually outside and accessible to all. The term is especially significant within the art world, amongst curators, commissioning bodies and practitioners of public art, to whom it signifies a particular working practice, often with implications of site specificity, community involvement and collaboration. The term is sometimes also misapplied by lay people to include any art which is exhibited in a public space including publicly accessible buildings.

The scope of public art

Monuments, memorials and civic statuary are perhaps the oldest and most obvious form of officially sanctioned public art, although it could be said that architectural detail and even architecture itself is more widespread and fulfils the definition of public art. Increasingly most aspects of the built environment are seen as legitimate candidates for consideration as, or location for, public art, including, street furniture, lighting and graffiti. Public art is not confined to physical objects, dance, procession, street theatre even poetry have proponents that specialise in public art.

Sculpture intended as public art is often constructed of durable, easily cared-for material, to avoid the worst effects of the elements and vandalism. however many works are intended to have only a temporary existence and are made of more ephemeral stuff. permanent works are sometimes integrated with architecture and landscaping in the creation or renovation of buildings and sites.

Some artists working in this discipline use the freedom afforded by an outdoor site to create very large works that would be unfeasible in a gallery, for instance Richard Long's 3 week walk, entitled "The Path Is the Place in the Line". Amongst the works of the last 30 years that have met greatest critical and popular acclaim are pieces by Robert Smithson, Christo and Anthony Gormley where the artwork reacts to or incorporates its environment.

Artists making Public art range from the greatest masters such as Michelangelo, Pablo Picasso, and Joan Miró, to those who specialise in public art such as Claes Oldenburg and Pierre Granche, to anonymous artists who make surreptitious interventions.

Percent for art

Public art is usually installed with the authorisation and collaboration of the government or company that owns or administers the space. Some governments actively encourage the creation of public art, for example, budgeting for artworks in new buildings by implementing a percent for art policy. 1% for art is an internationally held concept. The majority of European countries, cities and states in the USA, and Australia, uphold Percent for Art. It usually requires that a percentage of constructions costs be spent on public art, but this requirement is implemented in a variety of ways. The government of Quebec requires that the budget for all new publicly funded buildings set aside 1% for artwork. New York City has a law that requires that no less than 1% of the first twenty million dollars, plus no less than one half of 1% of the amount exceeding twenty million dollars be allocated for art work in any public building that is owned by the city. The maximum allocation for any site is $400,000. In contrast, the city of Toronto requires that 1% all of construction costs be set aside for public art, with no set upper limit (although in some circumstances, the municipality and the developer might negotiate a maximum amount). In Britain % for art is discretionary for local authorities, who implement it under the broader terms of a section 106 agreement otherwise known as 'planning gain', in practice it is negotiable, and seldom ever reaches a full 1%, where it is implemented at all.

Public art and politics

Public art has often been used for political ends. Perhaps finding its greatest expression in the widespread use of public art by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War, that led directly to the policy developed by Lenin to install public art of heroes and artists in every village in the Soviet Union. Emerging artists and professionals alike still use public art to promote their ideas or to establish censorship-free contact between viewer and artist. Some public art is intended to be ephemeral, going so far as to include temporary installations and performance pieces. In some cases the line between graffiti and "guerrilla" public art is blurred, for example in the case of the early works of Keith Haring, executed without permission in advertising poster holders in the New York City Subway, and the current work of Banksy. In many cases such public art is spontaneously created in the urban environment, often without the consent of authorities or in the case of political struggle, against the law.

Public art is an effective tool of social emancipation or achieving a political goal. There are many examples of spontaneous public art getting official recognition: worth mentioning are, for example, world famous Belfast and LA murals which, in time of conflict, have been the only existing communication for a members of socially, ethnically and racially divided community's and proved to be an effective tool in establishing a dialogue and hence solving the cleavage in the long run. State sponsored public art, particularly murals, are often used by totalitarian regimes as a tool of mass-control and propaganda.

Controversy

In some cases the funding or siting of public art can prove controversial leading to heated debates about who has control of the public realm. Richard Serra's Tilted Arc was removed from a New York City plaza in 1989 after a concerted campaign by office workers who found their routine was disrupted by the work, leading to a public court hearing that found against the work.

Victor Pasmore's Apollo Pavilion in the English New Town of Peterlee has been a focus for local politicians and other groups complaining about the governance of the town and allocation of resources. In this case artists and cultural leaders from the region have mounted a campaign to rehabilitate the reputation of the work with the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art commissioning artists Jane and Louise Wilson to make a video installation about the piece in 2003.

House a large 1993-4 work by Rachel Whiteread in East London was destroyed by the local council after a few months - in this case the artist and her agent had only secured temporary permission for the work.

Bibliography

Public Art by the Book, edited by Barbara Goldstein. 2005.
Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, edited by Suzanne Lacy.
Art, Space and the City: Public Art and Urban Futures by Malcolm Miles. 1997.
Spirit Poles and Flying Pigs: Public Art and Cultural Democracy in American Communities,

by Erika Lee Doss. 1995

Critical Issues in Public Art: Content, Context, and Controversy, by

Harriet Senie and Sally Webster. 1993.

Art For Public Places: Critical Essays, by Malcolm Miles et al. 1989.
The Lansing Area Arts Attitude Survey, by Suzanne Love and Kim Dammers. Michigan State University Center for Urban Affairs. 1978?

External links

sources

good outline of soviet public art history

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Public art