"What Is Public Art" - descriptive information

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I am doing a Year 12 Art assignment on 'Art In Public Places' and was wondering if you could send me information on what 'Art In Public Places' really is. Thankyou

-- Jade Katheleen Ellen Irvine (jirvine@internal.mvhs.sa.edu.au), September 23, 2001

Answers

have you gotten any information, i am doing a paper on the same thing, i would appreciate any info

-- Melissa Stevens (mel72876@yahoo.com), October 31, 2001.

It's a rather large discussion but to simplify you can break it down into Art in Public Places and Public Art. ARt in Public Places was an early attempt by the NEA (and other private funders) in providing the public with the "best art" from mainly "blue chip" artists such as Calder's piece in Grand Rapids MI. There was little attempt to incorporate the work into the environment and it's function outside of aesthetic considerations. There is a lot written about this, look at Suzanne Lacy's book Mapping the Terrain and tom finkelpearl's Dialogues in Public Art for a critical look at the early process to current trends in Public Art of place and audience incorporation.

-- (jen@yahoo.com), November 03, 2001.

Public Art is art that is accesible to any person in public places, eg park, city centre, etc. An "Art in Public Places" program was set up by the NEA which required them to supply sculptures for public places but the program was aborted after a decade or so. An example of Public Art is, well, how about the statue of King Arthur in Wolverhampton City Centre? Or Ecstasy of Saint Teresa placed in Santa Maria, Rome. Public Art has many different moods. The artist is required to provide "Public Art" for the public, but his piece of art comes from whatever mood he is in when he is producing his, art. It could mean different things to different people, but most of the time people will not be able to figure out what that piece of art really means. Public Art (sculptures) are usually owned by buildings around where it is but are put there for the enjoyment of the public. Hope this helps you. This is just what I think.

-- Sarah Westley (saz_westley@hotmail.com), November 27, 2001.

It is another way of inventive a new and mid ground form of art, mainly localised to single based performance. Unfortunately, the term is not established fully. However it will provide more creative opportunity to get involved with this branch of eventual form of late contemporary art. In a way, it is more about the state of performer than performance and spectators. Invent.

-- siaman godfriend (gsiaman@hotmail.com), November 30, 2001.

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