ABSTRACT

Public art is produced and ‘lived’ within multiple, interlaced and contested political, economic, social and cultural-symbolic spheres. This lively collection is a mix of academic and practice-based writings that scrutinise conventional claims on the inclusiveness of public art practice. Contributions examine how various social differences, across class, ethnicity, age, gender, religion, ability and literacy, shape encounters with public art within the ambits of the design, regeneration and everyday experiences of public spaces. The chapters richly draw on case studies from the Global North and South, providing comprehensive insights into the experiences of encountering public art via a variety of scales and realms.

This book advances critical insights of how socially practised public arts articulate and cultivate geographies of social difference through the themes of power (the politics of encountering), affect (the embodied ways of encountering), and diversity (the inclusiveness of encountering). It will appeal to scholars, students and practitioners of cultural geography, the visual arts, urban studies, political studies and anthropology.

part |12 pages

Introduction

part I|75 pages

Power

chapter 2|20 pages

Subverting surveillance

Power and incivility in public transit art

chapter 3|16 pages

‘Awaken the Dragon’

Participatory art-making and the grassroots in authoritarian Singapore

chapter 4|19 pages

The construction of post-communist ideologies and re-branding of Budapest

The case study of Statue Park Museum

chapter 5|18 pages

Sustainable influences of public art

A view on cultural capital and environmental impact

part II|50 pages

Affect

chapter 6|17 pages

Shaping subjects, connecting communities, imagining futures?

Critically investigating Play Your Place

chapter 7|17 pages

The production of temporary public space

Site-specific installation and ‘vital materialities’

chapter 8|14 pages

‘All your drains belong to us’

Young people and the non-representational geographies of public art in drain tunnels

part III|78 pages

Diversity

chapter 9|20 pages

Mobilising the ‘Right to Remain’ in Vancouver’s Paueru-gai

An art-based participatory research intervention

chapter 10|19 pages

The art of (re)crossing the border

The Border Farm project in Maroi, South Africa

chapter 11|18 pages

The Birmingham Surrealist Laboratory

Unlocking community and the avant-garde in a super-diverse city

chapter 12|19 pages

A cybergeography of public art encounter

The case of Rubber Duck

part |7 pages

Afterword