Public art. Teorie e prassi, tra riflessioni critiche e riqualificazioni urbane. Casi studio europei
Author(s)
Federici, Elena
Date Issued
June 19, 2013
Type
Doctoral Thesis
Abstract
Public art. Theories and practice, between critical analysis and urban regeneration. European case studies.
The research, that mingles both theory and practice, as the title itself underlines, deals with the wide
and complex phenomenon of Public art in order to define its boundaries within the wider horizon of
contemporary art (of which it is one of the most vital phenomena), during the last two decades. The
contemporary forms of art, with actions that go beyond the traditional delegated spaces, have
abandoned the solipsism that has characterized art for a long time. The boundaries between public
space, daily life and art have become increasingly fragile, overtaking the concept of art as “separation”,
and creating new stronger connections between art and urban re-qualification. The idea of “third
landscape”1, made of empty urban spaces with no identity, has been recycled and became the support
for public and private investors to operate in suburbs and dismissed areas that offered a chance for a
tangible transformation2. Thus the glamorous connotation of public art (art as an aesthetic device) has
been put aside to enhance its social value, its ethic and its capability to move along the boarders and the
interstices, far from the concepts of urban furniture and monument. Starting with considerations about
the changes in the city (seen as a metaphor of the present), it is observed that the diffusion of public
art, with its site-specific practices, has followed the loss of meaning of the territory and the city scene.
In this context art is not just process itself, but it activates different processes in diverse and non-ritual
places, from the inner city to the suburbs and desolated, abandoned and forgotten areas; the artist
produces actions between aesthetics and ethics and the public is not only participating, but even the coauthor
of such processes. At the same time, the evolution of Public art meaning is investigated through
an historical overview from the Seventies until nowadays, through an analysis of the critical thought
expressed by international authors involved in several disciplines (from sociology to geography,
architecture, city planning, legislation) connected to this particular art phenomenon. After describing
the dimensions in which public art reveals itself, the research focuses on the ethical-social aspects of
urban regeneration of public art, both reflecting on the art’s role in this context, and through a dense
debate between different European case studies (in Italy, Germany, Holland, Sweden, France, England,
Spain, Denmark). Analyses about the legislation that governs the commission of public artworks in
Italy and Europe have been also carried out, comparing them with American regulations and
dispositions; the project ends with significant interviews to artists and experts of the field.
1 G. Clement, Il manifesto del Terzo paesaggio, Quodlibet, Macerata 2005.
2 Cfr. V. Gregotti, Editoriale, “Rassegna”, 42, 1990, numero monografico su “I territori abbandonati”.
Additional information
Dottorato di ricerca in Memoria e materia delle opere d'arte attraverso i processi di produzione, storicizzazione, conservazione, musealizzazione
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