ABSTRACT
The genre of social practice art has been adopted as an alternative to an overheated art market and is a place where the political activist, retro-institutional critique artist, and general do-gooder can find a home. But when “new genre public art” and “social sculpture” were conceived as fields, they had a direct and focused lineage in performance and sculpture, and aggressively sought to activate, render, and contemplate new forms through which artists could have a greater impact on the world. Today’s social practice often looks more like the art world rewarding its major artists for doing good deeds or art students struggling to find relevance in the creation of more luxury consumer goods. This chapter explores these notions through the direct statements of key practitioners, while contemplating the moral imperative that seems to dominate the field’s narrative.
