Public Art Conference Archive—2004

Outline of Keynote Address by Anita Contini

1. Topic of Conference: Public Art as Civic Catalyst
   1. Brief preview—who will hear from at conference, all addressing this role set out for Public Art as Civic Catalyst.
   2. What do we really mean by topic?
      1. All Public Art could be understood to be civic in some sense. One meaning of “Civic” is “anything that relates to a person as a member of society.” Public Art does that by virtue of locating in socially constructed public spaces—of interrupting the spaces society constructs and co-opting it for art.
      2. Public Art as Civic Catalyst implies something more. Describes how Public Art has evolved today. It acts as a civic catalyst by transforming our public spaces into critical space for dialogue and commentary about our relationship to society/community/city and the interrelationships within society.
2. How we got to this point of affirming this role for Public Art.
   1. Trace Evolution of Public Art in New York City through Anita’s experience
      1. Intro: In tracing a rough history of Public Art in New York City in the past 30 years or so when organizations such as the Public Art Fund were founded to fund and promote Public Art, can see this role emerging.
      2. First: public space treated like a pedestal or a place to “plop down art.”
      3. Evolved, so that place itself and audience became a vital component of the art.
      4. Creative Time
         1. History: began programming in the early 1970s when many office spaces in lower Manhattan financial district were vacant as a result of recession.
            1. 88 Pine St/Wall St Plaza, most visible of early spaces, with Red Grooms’ Ruckus Manhattan. Showed the process of creating it, as well. Public became participant and content for the art.
            2. Art on the Beach, first two acres of a 92 acre landfill site known as BPC, then 10 acres. Served as an experimental stage for music, dance, theater, and visual art performances.
         2. Impact:
            1. Changed perception of outdoor art (from art in a public space, to a notion of public art). Kay Larson, July 30, 1984 issue of New York magazine: “Art on the Beach has subtly changed Manhattan’s perception of outdoor art: The landfill is one of the rare sites able to harbor outdoor work that doesn’t try to imitate the steel-shower-curtain school of urban monumental sculpture, work that tries to entertain and amuse and (infrequently) to enlighten.” Some projects commented on surrounding symbolism.
            2. Launched artists’ careers
            3. Fostered dialogue
               1. Dialogue between disciplines
                  1. Art on the Beach collaborations: Some began to use visual artists’ works in performance. Artist and architect collaborations. Made formal in 1983. Visual, performance and architects teams on installations.
                  2. BPC decided that WFtowers 3.5 acre plaza to be collaborative effort between artists, architect, and landscape architect.
               2. Dialogue between artists and corporations communities, developers, architects, city agencies, and each other.  opened up minds regarding what is possible; got in-kind support from authorities, developers
                  1. Lower Manhattan financial district: artists and corporations lived side by side but seldom interacted.
            4. Most Important: Opened minds to possibilities of public space as a space for dialogue and engagement with an audience.
      5. World Financial Center Public Programs
         1. Possibilities of public space evident with example of exhibition The New Urban Landscape at the opening of the WFC public spaces in 1988. Artists and architects invited to create visual works that addressed issues about the “city." Result is that art created a discourse.
         2. Nancy Princenthal, p. 25: “The viewer and the viewer’s experience of the site, the community and the city as resident, employee, visitor or observer, are what the work, in large part, is about.”  P. 29: “In all its diversity, this exhibition emphasizes throughout that the city and those who define its visible and otherwise perceptible image live in an inextricably reciprocal relationship.”
         3. Remarkable—its subject matter challenged and confronted space/sponsor in aesthetic, political and social terms.
            1. Favela example—in confrontation with sleek modern design of space, commentary on functions of a world financial network.
            2. Other example-confronting myths/metaphors of the city/urban environment (with myths of nature/rustic)
         4. Remarkable because developer saw an opportunity with public art.  Besides just presenting performance and entertainment, developer valued opportunity to encourage public participation in a dialogue about the urban environment. Richard Martin: “On Liberty St., aesthetic enterprise was honored as any free enterprise.”  Did this fact compromise critical capacity of art? No. Enhanced it by giving it some authority.
      6. Public Art in New York City today:
         1. is a product of these earlier experiences. Anita Contini, 1988: “Attitude changes by city officials, a more receptive ear from developers, a growing confidence in public taste, and a consistent desire of artists to open an ongoing dialogue with the environment have all encouraged timely changes in public art.” Has continued. All realize potential of Public Art to transform Public Space into a space for dialogue and commentary.
3. Memorials as Public Art
   1. Were “civic monuments” before they were “public art.”
   2. The memorials today are definitely Public Art.
      1. Maya Lin’s Vietnam War Memorial. Audience experience of site, of subject matter, is central to the work.
      2. Irish Hunger Memorial
   3. WTC site memorial adds a new dimension. Process of creating the memorial itself (LMDC, the competition, the public comment) is audience—driven and reflects interrelationships.
4. Conclusion—What we mean by Public Art as Civic Catalyst. Public Art that engages people from different disciplines, sectors, and strata society—whether as the creators, subjects, sponsors, or participants/audience of that art—in a dialogue about our society, and in so doing places new value on the public spaces of our built environment as places of meaningful discourse.