ABSTRACT
To look into radical interventions in public space, we approach terms such as political, activist, participatory, socially engaged and community-based art. We consider the contested notion of community and art’s involvement in “real lives” and observe the artists’ engagement with the political and the social within the conditions put forward by capitalism, antagonism and globalization. The artist as social worker, constructor or pedagogue will at times offer replicable modes of intervening in one’s own reality. We will look at how artists construct capsule realities or perform in temporary occupations of public space, offering a view of the city as stage and playground, bringing forward ethical and ideological concerns and creating space for civic intervention. Methods of assuming personas and practicing overidentification while touching upon issues of consumerism, globalization, war, women’s exploitation and cultural imperialism will be explored in the case studies. We will further look into groups of artists with an anti-systemic agenda, which move between performance and activism, engaging in performative practices of protest, provoking power hierarchies and bringing forward current demands for social justice. Lastly, we will look at artists who invent their own institutions and propose an emancipatory education of performance and replicable performance methodologies.
