A write-up based on Mr Anil Kumar’s session dated 17.01.

17 in the Art History department,

Public art

By Ms Avilla Damar, MVA Painting, Semester II

In an effort to enable themselves and their audience to perceive their messages in a new way,
artists seek to find new ways to present their ideas. The intention is to create something fresh
and unexpected - to "surprise" the viewer into giving his/her full attention to the work of art. In
addition, as the social and political climate shifts, the perspective of the artist must also shift to
take new circumstances into account. Thus many of the greatest artists have troubled,
confounded, and shocked their publics. The most famous historical examples would be:
Michelangelo (use of nudity in religious art), Rembrandt (ordinary every day subject matter),
Manet (reinterpretation of classical themes, nudity vs. nakedness), Courbet (Peasant subjects,
social protest), Monet (changes of technique), Toulouse Lautrec (prostitutes as subject matter),
George Segal (new techniques and materials for sculpture of human figures) and Matisse (use
of color and form). History keeps repeating itself and even today, art practices are being
deconstructed and reconstructed. The history of art and design does not occur in a vacuum.
Artists and designers are only responding to the events of their times. The shifting of art from
the studio or from the white cube to public spaces is one of the now-common phenomena in
the art world. Performance art seems to be ‘the new sexy’ in the art world. Biennales which can
be termed as a contemporary invention of artists are no longer reserved to cities like Venice. In
every nook and corner of the world, Biennales are happening. The inevitable relocation of art
means predictable confusions and questions. Is there any difference between an art that is
produced in a studio and one that is made in public? Is private art different from a public art
work?

“Private art” or studio art generally refers to art that is found in museums, galleries and
individual or corporate private collections. It is usually only seen by its owners, or employees of
a given corporation and most importantly, by people who willingly and voluntarily go to see art,
such as at museums or galleries. They enter the doors of the museum wanting and expecting an
art experience, oftentimes willing to pay the entrance fee for the experience. The artworks are
usually paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, installations and conceptual artworks. The
works can be “pretty” or sometimes can be extremely provocative dealing with hard hitting
social and political themes that may be offensive to some. Because it has a willing and often art
educated audience, these kinds of difficult themes can be expected and desired by the viewers.
The viewers enter expecting to be provoked, or aesthetically gratified by “beauty”.
Public Art has a very different agenda. It is usually found in the public domain, available for
everyone and anyone to experience - public plazas, along highways, in train and bus stations,
on sidewalks, on the outside of buildings, integrated into the exterior of buildings, integrated
into the landscape architecture of a place or on buses. It is often found out of doors, but can
also exist inside public buildings, like airports for instance. There is a lot of privately funded
public art as well, often found on campuses and sculpture parks amongst other places. Public
art usually takes the form of sculptures or murals, but there can be other experimental forms
that occur on the public streets, such as performance art. Its primary agenda is to give voice to
the community in which it exists. The best public art is usually not about individual artist
expression, but somehow speaks to the place where it is sited and/or the community that has
supported it. Most importantly, it is available to all to see and experience anytime, from the art
educated elite to the common man in the street, whether one wants to see it or not. One may
encounter it quite unexpectedly, without any foreknowledge that it even existed. One may not
necessarily be willing or eager to engage with it, but there it is, right in front of you! Many times
it is very publicly sited but is completely ignored by most passers-by. Sometimes it upsets the
majority of the public audience and they cry for its removal. Often it becomes accepted into the
fabric of the community over time and becomes an icon or symbol for the city or community. In
Seattle, the much beloved Hammering Man is one such example. The Statue of Liberty in New
York City is another great example. A very common statement one can hear when it comes to
public art, especially performance art is: “You Call That Art?!”

The terms “public art” and “studio art” are not necessarily opposing. While “public art” tends to
have a straightforward definition, “studio art” can have different meanings according to the
context in which it is being used. It is interesting to note that in the Renaissance, the term
“studio artist” was employed as a means of denigrating an artist as an amateur. It is equally
good to know that artists are often commissioned by architects to create public artwork in
order to accentuate a building’s features.

There is a possibility that art festivals and fairs are the reasons for the relocation of art from an
inside space to an outside one. In India, the Kala Goda art festival in Mumbai, the Chitrasante
art fair in Bengaluru and the Baroda art fair amongst others, attract a huge number of people.
On an international scenario, while many speak about the Biennales and events like
Documenta, one less-spoken-about but very interesting and awaited event that give much
more importance to huge, gigantic outdoor installations is the Burning Man Festival. What is
unique to this festival is that no trace is left at the end. Burning Man is an annual gathering that
takes place at Black Rock City—a temporary community erected in the Black Rock Desert in
Nevada. The event is described as an experiment in community and art, influenced by ten main
principles, including radical inclusion, self-reliance and self-expression, as well as community
cooperation, civic responsibility, gifting, decommodification, participation, immediacy and
leaving no trace. First held in 1986 on Baker Beach in San Francisco as a small function
organized by Larry Harvey and a group of friends, it has since been held annually, spanning
from the last Sunday in August to the first Monday in September (the U.S. Labour Day).

In Mauritius, the most important art exhibition held annually and actually a tradition since the
past thirty-five years is known as the ‘Salon de Mai’. However, quite unexpectedly, the whole
academic-style Salon was deconstructed in the sense that it moved outdoors in May 2016.
Many young artists found it an interesting challenge. The fact is that to bring forth an art
culture has been quite a hard task in Mauritius. People were not prioritising art. Art galleries
were like graveyards with only some from the artist community coming to visit exhibitions. The
problem identified, the idea behind moving art from inside to public spaces was simple. It was
about putting into practice a famous marketing mantra– If people do not walk to me, I walk to
them. In other words, if people do not visit art galleries, then let the reverse happen – let the
art be taken to them instead. The point in using this Mauritian scenario as example is to put
forth another argument – Did art move outdoors because its audience was limited to art elites
inside a gallery and by taking it outside, has the common man also not become part of the
audience, willingly or unwillingly?

The definition of art is controversial in contemporary philosophy. Whether art can be defined
has also been a matter of controversy. However, art is not only changing meaning but also
changing location and form. The shift from studio/private art to public art is gaining pace and
with it, a fading away of the white cube in the coming years is sensed. However, history is
replete with examples - art has a surprise at every corner. One just has to wait and watch for
the next level of art evolution and revolution!

-Avilla