ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Chantal Mouffe's socio-political notion of agonism is precisely a productive epistemological framework in which to situate the dynamic social everydayness of public art. It reflects an intermediate stage of the intellectual journey through the everyday practice of permanent physical public art, as seen through the lens of poststructuralist socio-cultural and political theory. Currently, the official aftercare for permanent public art is still under pressure: along aesthetic interest on the one hand and, on the other, utilitarian demands, mainly in the spheres of financial policy and community development. Public art encounters produce lived experiences thereof and, depending on their level of criticality, inhabit the inviting potential to intently sense everyday life. Therefore, conceptualizing social engagement with public art requires a spatio-temporally differentiated, fluid approach that takes into account individuation and community dynamics from the local societal level through regional and global developments and (anti-)normativities in the domains of politics, the (art) market and social order.
