Out of Time, Out of Place: Public Art (Now)
Author:
Claire Doherty (e.d) 2014
Description:
The face of public art is changing. Over the past ten years, orthodox artistic approaches to working outside the confines of the gallery or museum have been challenged by a new wave of artists who are provoking us to see the world anew. Their works unsettle, rather than authenticate, place identity; disrupt and intrude into the everyday rather than embellish; occupy and contest use of public space, rather than predetermine its design. They encourage us to get lost and challenge preconceived ideas about where art belongs and when and where it might take place.
Out of Time, Out of Place: Public Art (Now) is the first survey of public artworks that are redefining public art as a process of unsettling places rather than as a paternalistic process of place-making. The visually impressive, comprehensive survey will take as its guiding principle the act of storytelling as a means to consider how each project unfolded in a particular place and time: locating the ‘situation’ of each work, from describing the landscape and social environment to telling the story of how the work progressed from initial concept to final work. Unusually for such surveys, the publication will also feature participants and co-producers as well as artists.
With a comprehensive introduction setting out some of the practical, social, theoretical and historical contexts of the artworks and more than 40 project synopses and interviews, Public Art (Now) brings a new dimension to the understanding and practice of international contemporary public art. This dynamic combination of projects, places and people, critical considerations of context and approach, will offer the reader a unique overview of one of the most progressive areas of visual arts practice internationally.
Published by Art / Books in association with Situations, Public Art Agency Sweden and the European Network of Public Art Producers