Im currently working on my dissertation, which is looking at how contemporary artists put work out into the URBAN enviroment. Im wanting to focus on more unusual, alternative ways than conventional sculptures slapped bang in the centre of a city. At the moment a lot of ways i have found have been closley linked to methods used by advertising. If anyone has anything they think could help me on my way, id be grateful if you could suggest it.

-- Adrian Pitt (superfurrydonutboy@hotmail.com), June 18, 2001

Answers

snap! I am currently researching my Masters disseration in (almost) the same field. My experience of alternative methods of public art practice in the UK is through artist intervention projects either individually arts funded or through local authority usually community based projects. Look at the Irwell sculpture trail in the North West, UK whose roster of art practice is (finally) moving away from traditional sculpture, plus independant art producers such as Artangel, who create site specific work usually temporary. If your research is largely based in the U.S look at regeneration schemes such as Battery Park in NY. Hope this helps.

Kerenza Hines

-- Kerenza Hines (kerenza.hines@stud.man.ac.uk), June 20, 2001.

For the past qq years I've been involved in the Platform projects in Melbourne, Australia. These and a number of other projects here circumvent the permanent sculptural commission model by presenting changing exhibition programs in public, non-gallery environments. Both our spaces, in pedestrian subways in Melbourne's two major train stations are passed by about 10,000 pedestrians each day. There is a body of information directly relevant to your enquiry on our website (http://www.vicnet.net.au/~platform) including a number of essays that can be accessed through the 'public art' link. (http://home.vicnet.net.au/~platform/public.htm). Hope this is useful. Feel free to contact me for further information. The site is currently being redeveloped so apologies for any dodgy links. - Richard Holt, Platform Artists Group Inc.

-- Richard Holt (dickster@iaccess.com.au), June 27, 2001.

Our recent public art project was not only in advertising spaces, (billboards, bus shelters, postcards, magazines, newspapers, talkback radio, etc.) but impersonated advertising itself - kind of in order to insinuate it's way into consciousness.

You can see the actual pieces and some of the news reports on these sites: http://abc.net.au/arts/news/hetero/heterocover.htm#photos http://www.smh.com.au/2001/mardigras/stories/hetero.htmleuro gay.co.uk/queernews/0201/mardi1.html www.anderson.ucla.edu/zone/exchange/010220/hetero.htm

I'm happy to talk more about it, too- I'm still in love with the project & the fuss it caused. good luck, deborah

-- Deborah Kelly (heyhetero@yahoo.com.au), July 07, 2001.

Check out http://www.symphonyofacity.com

Symphony of a City attached video cameras to 8 people from diverse backgrounds in the City of Boston and projected the resulting videos onto the side of Boston City Hall and streamed it on our website. I'd be happy to converse with you about it.

-- John Ewing (johnewing@igc.org), July 07, 2001.