lesson 1-site specific public art

Course of Site Specific Public Art Lesson #1

Politecnico di Milano (Campus di Piacenza) School of Architecture and Society

FOUNDATION: PUBLIC ART AS AN OPEN FIELD ?



PRESENTATION OF THE COURSE

Overview on the variety and complexity of Public Art

Origins: from the experience of Sixties in USA and Europe, through New Genre Public Art, Relational Aesthetics to the no borders terrain between art and civic engagement

From site specific to public sphere. Emerging experiences in community-oriented art practices, participatory cultures, challenging use of media




Focusing in detail on case-histories we will dialogue on specific topics such as:

- the functions of public art: from urban revitalization to representing communities, from memorials to new sites of experimentation and narration;-- new visions of public art: from urban pedagogy to a visualization of civic paths-new form of communication: social media and internet based practices, user-generated content and participation;-- identifying “the public”: audience, collaboration, communities and bottom-up movements;-- temporality, ephemeral and relational aesthetics;-- artists vs cultural workers; art work vs cultural production: comparisons and differences -New relationships with the institutions: the role of artistic events, biennial exhibitions and museums;-- non-conventional places for public art: re-sign the territory




Goals and objectives:

-Provide an overview of themes and issues concerning the course through readings, lectures, and case-history studies; Acquire skills in research, criticism, and proposal of a paper about a theme within the course;

Apply learned skills to develop, produce and present a proposal of a public art project as creator or curator;

The course will include guest speakers.




# 1 GUEST SPEAKERElisa Giardina Papa and Andrea Masuartists from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design).

Research group at MFA RISD ::Re-framing the real

They analyze works by artists motivated from a strong cultural, political and social sense of urgency to build new relationship between history and future. They invent new dramaturgies of the sensible, their works and actions are set in the public sphere in that area that extends from the street to the media and up to the internet.




Research group at MFA RISD ::Re-framing the real

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# 2 GUEST SPEAKERAlterazioni Video- Incompiuto Siciliano::Unfinished Sicily

Installations and actions on the theme of détournement and public art.

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Alterazioni Video- Incompiuto Siciliano::Unfinished Sicily

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Studio Azzurro: well known italian video-artist group

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Class Assignments: Mid-term paper:You will be responsible for presenting one paper to the class. This will be a 5 page research paper focusing on one artist or artist group related to a topic covered in class by half-term. Since it is a research paper, you must include footnote/endnotes and a list of work cited. This paper could be researched using the bibliography as well as on line materials.The paper should be submitted in mid-term class period.

Final project and paper:Final project should include a planning, a presentation, drawings and other media work of your idea concerning the (i.e. video, photo, internet work).It will be realized according to the courses of Landscape design studio and Analysis of temporary inhabitants in public spaces. For the final you will be expected to complete one project or a 10-page reasearch paper that adresses one of the issues raised in this course. I will provide a list of topics.

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Bibliography and readings :

-Suzanne Lacy, Mapping the terrain: new genre public art, Bay Press, 1995

-Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, Les Presse Du Reel, 1998

- Living as Form, socially engaged art from 1991- 2011, edited by Nato Thompson, Creative Times Book, New York, The MIT Press, Cambridge 2011

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Suzanne Lacy, Mapping the terrain: new genre public art, Bay Press, 1995

Nicolas Bourriaud, Relational Aesthetics, Les Presse Du Reel, 1998



Living as Form, socially engaged art from 1991- 2011, edited by Nato Thompson, Creative Times Book, New York, The MIT Press, Cambridge 2011




Instructions to follow the course:

-blog art-as-playground.blogspot.com

Facebook group: publicartpiacenza

#publicartpiacenza

I send you a reading in pdf format.This is my adress: [email protected]



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART?

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Alexander Calder 1967, La Grande Vitesse in Grand Rapids, Michigan



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART? Starting from the 70's commissioners of public art, still active both in the U.S.A. and Europe, have brought several work of art in public spaces of cities of different sizes.

- Claes Oldenburg: "Free" Stamp Cleveland City Hall, 1985

Claes Oldenburg, Needle, thread and Knot, Milan 2000



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART? Other interventions in nature.

- Niki De Saint Phalle, Tarots Park in Capalbio (Tuscany) 1976-1999

Jean Tinguely, Heureka, Zurich, 1964 (river delta)



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART? Relationship with the memory of an historical event, a person, a tragedy ecc.

1924-1925 Mount Rushmore Eisenmann Memorial to the Holocaust (1990's-2005)



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART? Relationship with the memory of an historical event, a person, a tragedy ecc.

Alberto Burri, Cretto, Gibellina-Sicily (after the Earthquake of ‘68) 1973



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? Land art, Minimal art, Conceptual art, Fluxus, performances have contributed to the debate, to shift the focus onto an open work, interactive, context-responsive of physical and perceptive environment.

Robert Morris: Observatory (Netherlands) 1971-77 (LAND ART)




Robert Smithson: Spiral Jetty 1970 (LAND ART)




Walter De Maria, Lightning Field 1977 (LAND ART)




Daniel Buren, Le deux Plateaux (The two levels), Paris 1986 (MINIMAL ART)




Joseph Beuys, 7000 Oaks, Kassel, 1982




Allan Kaprow, 18 happenings in 6 parts 1959 (FLUXUS/HAPPENING)



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC

Public is the core of the artistic intervention. An art to engage the audience with, a real-world addressed art, the aim of a social change.



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC

Superflex, Guarana Power, Venice Biennial 2003



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? THE MEANING OF SITE SPECIFIC

In early 1900: first studio and then expanded into the “real world”




From the 70's site specific concerns the presence of the public, a dialogue with him, without which the artist and the art do not exist.

Dan Graham, Public Space Two Audiences, 1976




From the 90’s: social function of art. Artists do use it as work on field to solve social conflicts. This attitude requires a political sight and action.

Rirkrit Tiravanija, The Land project, 1998



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? THE COMMISSIONERS

From a public commissioner to a spontaneous intervention, increasingly often, in spite of the institutional dynamics themselves. • Public fund• Mixed commissioners: half public-half

private• Percent for law (USA)• England (government investment)• France (commande publique) 1% of

budget of public buildings for art• The works funded belong to the public

subject



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? THE COMMISSIONERS: the private initiative

The example of Creative Time in the U.S.A. from the 70’s. Art in unknown and unusual places.




The example of Creative Time the in U.S.A. from the 70’s. Art in unknown and unusual places.

Message to the Public, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Times Square




The example of Creative Time in the U.S.A. from the 70’s. Art in unknown and unusual places.

Message to the Public,Jenny Holzer, Times Square




Case histories in Italy. The initiative of the periphery: Spoleto (Umbria, Como (Lombardia). Volterra 73 (Tuscany).Self-management, participation and democratic processes on the wave of ‘68.

Calder (comm. Municipality) B. Munari,

Como , Campo Urbano. Comm: curators and artists.





Staccioli (comm. Municipality, curators, artists, artisans.



WHAT IS PUBLIC ART ? TODAY. THE SELF-COMMISSION: PARTICIPATION AND PROPOSALS

Spacehive, Neighborland, Ioby (In your back yard), Brickstarter



FOUNDATION: LAND ART

MAIN CHARACTERISTICS:

• They're a not a drop sculpture, it's not an autonomous work which does not change in relation to the space and time conditions.

• From the audience point of view is very important the position he covers to observe it.

• The dimension: large scale project, huge and imposing.

• close relationship between work and

site-specific• the context where the work is created• the perception of the work is strictly

related to the circumstances within the work is seen

• the artist creates works which are conditioned by the place itself and by using the materials he has at his own disposal. So the works are physically inseparable from the site.




Richard Long, Delabole slate circle




Richard Long, River Avon Driftwood (1976)




Richard Long, Walking a line in the grass (1967) and Walking a line in Ireland




Richard Long, Walking a line in Nepal and walking a circle in Maharahstra




Richard Long, Avon Mud circle series

lesson 1-site specific public art

Education

public spaces

public sphere

functions of public

milano campus

new visions of public

new genre public art

course overview

course throughreadings