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Art in Public Space: Spatial Strategies

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ART IN PUBLIC SPACE: SPATIAL STRATEGIES
Miroslav Šilić

Abstract
The aim of this paper is to clarify the concepts of public art and public space, possible art forms and modes of action, but also the
ways citizens can participate in public space. The term “strategy” is used due to the complexity of the problem of art in public space
and it includes a number of factors: planning, financing, permits, public tenders etc. Following the main theme of the meeting
“Sculpture in Public Space”, the article discusses the possibilities of artistic activities in less traditional, contemporary modes of ar-
tistic expression such as installations, objects, interventions and the possibility of creating a “place” through art in public space.

The concept of public art

Art in public space comprises all forms of art that are implemented in public space: from traditional sculptures to installations,
objects, murals, street art, performances, happenings etc. The broader term of art in public space denotes all the activities which
shape public urban spaces like urban planning, architecture, urban furniture, lighting and many more.
Art in public space implies a wider audience than the art displayed in galleries and is more prone to criticism because it is directly
interwoven in daily life. All of us are the audience of public art, whether we like it or not. For this reason, it is important to deter-
mine what our rights are when it comes to the use and creation of public space.
The concept and the genesis of public space
Public space was established during the development of the Ancient Greek polis as an agora, which served as a meeting place
for the discussion of public issues and finding the solution for them. Agora was also the place where the town hall was situated.
This tells us about the level of awareness and the importance of public space since ancient times. Starting from the agora and
later on from the Roman Forum, different forms of organised public life were built up, among which the most important was
certainly the city square.
Public space requires a democratic society; it is a place of debates, while public art implies the audience of active citizens with
critical views. The opposite of a citizen is not a peasant, but a vassal1. Therefore, architecture is the kind of art that determines
the public space as physical, but also as mental space i.e. the public sphere. There is no dichotomy between the concepts of
architecture and public space as architecture is the very essence of public space. It is a projection of human needs, habits and
beliefs within the space and the framework of its movement. As such, it creates public space both physically and in the sense
of meaning and has a twofold role in articulating public art. The first role, immanent in the very architecture, is the physical
creation of space, i.e. the architecture as the scene of events. The second, in a broad sense of the term public art can become,
through the processes of architectural design, a player in the field of urban design, planning of the location for monuments and
inclusion of the citizens and artists in the process of spatial planning.
Who does public space belong to?
The crucial issue regarding public space refers to the question of ownership, i.e. answers a broader sociological question: who
is entitled to the city? The question of the participation in managing - how to act on the interests of the public, what are the
interests and how many of them are at citizens’ disposal when it comes to managing the public space.
Architecture as art in public space is manifested in the fact that it constitutes public space by itself, although we tend to miss
this point as we look at architecture not as art, but as something which is found within space itself - as something that occurs

1
KsenijaPetovar, a sociologist http://www.kontrapress.com/clanak.php?rub=Razgovori&url=Beograd-na-vodi-i-njegovi-podanici
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beyond our knowledge and our will. And in most cases this is true. It indeed is created regardless of the will and knowledge of
its end-user, a citizen. In modernism, it was believed that architecture can change society and today it is clear that perhaps it is
the most visible resultant of socio-economic relations. Furthermore, due to the complexity of planning, technological processes
and legal procedures, we could partially accept the fact that the public does not have a decisive say in the choice of public fa-
cilities. However, the entire professional community must not be excluded from the process of creating urban solutions or the
introduction of art in public space. A particular threat to the public interest, the legality of the proceedings and the system which
degrades and even annuls the impact of professionals can be seen in the case of “Belgrade Waterfront”, where all the planning
documentation is being neglected for the needs of the investors which opens a door for ad hoc design at an exceptional location
not based on real social and economic needs. Therefore, the institution behind the public competition may be the only solution
which includes the public interest in the process of public space design, although still with a limited scope as it is done over the
representatives of the profession.
Creative and spatial strategies
The need to actively incorporate art into the society initiated the development of different strategies of artistic action. The term
“strategy” is used due to the complexity of the problem of art in public space which includes a number of factors - planning,
financing, permits, public tender, etc. The attitude of public art towards social reality and its goals create strategies in public
space and public sphere, resulting in concrete art practices:
• monument practice
• anti monument practice
• utilitarian practice
They are all specific in their objectives, methodology, organisation and financing. What they should all have in common is the con-
trol over the use of public funds and the inclusion of the professionals in creating the objectives, a public competition and a jury.
Monument practice
Traditional notion of art in public space includes monuments, a memorial sculpture usually done with traditional methods and
through the Realist approach. It was set up to celebrate historical events and personalities, politicians, scientists and artists
usually with a purpose to establish and maintain the awareness of statehood and national history, but also to glorify the power
of the regime and the ruling ideology. The creation of such monuments is always and
entirely run by the institutions.
How far the state policy goes in abusing art in order to achieve its goals is best illustrated
by the example of Skopje. The level of absurdity in the interpretation of history and the
megalomaniac invasion of space can be compared to the tendencies of some totalitarian
societies throughout history, despite the fact that Macedonia is a democratic state. Histor-
icism and classicism have always been suitable tools to display power of the totalitarian
regime while claiming that people cannot understand modern art, thus completely op-
posing the modernist experience. (Picture 1)
Picture 1. Monument to Alexander the..
Great, Skopje
| Holocaust Monument, also known as the Nameless Library is a work of a memorial char-
acter, set in the Jewish district of Vienna. It is dedicated to the Jewish victims of the Ho-
locaust in Austria. It is a work of a British artist Rachel Whiteread who, by creating “negatives” of the space, evokes its very
essence and returns it to the physical reality. If the space is hollow and, as such, positive, its footprint i.e. its negative becomes a
full, strong body that bears the imprint of the space and the memory of time. This is the opposite of the previous example and
shows that it is possible to use cultural policies, public competitions as well as local administration to set up a monument which
represents contemporary art and culture that fosters the culture of memory. (Picture 2)
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Anti monument practice
Opposed to the traditional concept, the term of public art is now being used as a special form of artistic action in the public
sphere. Contemporary art in public space introduces new themes and a new relationship with the urban and social environment
and with an element of social activism although these works do not need to have a permanent character. The goal of such art
is no longer an art object or aestheticism of reality, but an active attitude towards social reality. The concept of site - specific
work is introduced – created In Situ (on the spot) so that later this principle of creating a work with a metaphorical relation to
space is upgraded into a context-specific concept, processing works, actions and participatory art of the community based on
a social context. Public art is the opposite of art in public space: it is not created to last physically; it is a temporary concept.
Site-specific art is art created for a particular space or location. It takes into account the nature of the place, its past and present,
its users and purpose. It would be impossible for the work created in a specific location to be perceived and performed in exact
same manner somewhere else.
The most commonly used definition of site-specific art was given by Richard Serra while attempting to determine his position in
a public debate about the trial in the famous case of the removing his site-specific sculpture named Tilted Arc in 1981. He said:
”To move the work means to destroy it”. A site - specific work is created for a specific place and its composition depends entirely
on the way in which it is displayed in the environment - it does not work separate from it.
The term Site specific is linked to land art, process art, performance, conceptual and installation art, institutional critique as well
as the art that works with local communities.
Utilitarian practice
A special aspect of dealing with space which is entirely institutionally regulated is the practice of urban planning, which in
itself includes the practice of urban design. This way we can establish the system of using public space as a common good and
its positive examples are numerous, unless they end up in the massive use of Behaton.
The example Novi Sad Quay, whose primary purpose is the defense against floods and a
secondary one- recreation, is a successful example of urban design that has gained a lot of
popularity among the citizens of Novi Sad. This solution also included an existing memori-
al monument to the victims of the WWII raid, whose different meanings and purposes did
not oppose themselves, but, on the contrary, permeated so that the memorial complex is
in harmony with the function of its recreational zone. (Picture 3)
The disappearance of “a place”
A ”place” is a key concept of a philosophical view of architecture as spatial and historical
Picture 3. Novi Sad Quay | fact. The definition of a ”place” does not imply an abstract, geographic location, but the
complete urban phenomena that determine the character and atmosphere of the location.
Due to the globalization and the dominance of technical and technological notion of space; advertising, communication and
symbolism in space, the traditional character of a place is now lost and it becomes a uniform without meaning. There is a loss of
identity, but also the meaning of urban space which was built up throughout the history is lost. We are stuck in one-dimensional
and hyper-real consumer society that excludes any symbolic or historical meaning. It is a hyperrealism of a purchase in which we
are treated only as consumers, not as actors.
Urban public space is disappearing as well as the concept of a city square as the focal point of city life is giving its central role to
cars. As soon as the city square becomes a parking space, it will not be referred as public space any more, but transport infra-
structure. An example of this is Trifković Square in Novi Sad. Today, few people know that at the area of the parking space there
used to be the first city theatre, built by voluntary contributions which were collected by the Serbian National Theatre Society.
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 The Civic Hall was built in 1871; it was designed by György Molnár and was destroyed in 1891. Police and sanitary reports were
used as the official explanation for the action, but the real reason behind it was that “the city had no more interest to renew the
contract with the Serbian National Theatre Society”.
The Armenian Church in Novi Sad suffered a similar fate. It was destroyed to make place for a boulevard that passed right over
it. At the place of the former church there is no a memorial - it was also destroyed; meaning that this sacral object disappeared
twice. What once was a place, space of a great symbolic significance for the citizens, disappeared due to a bureaucratic decision.
(Picture 4)
Creating “a place”
All these classifications and examples will prompt any person dealing with space to conclude that art in public space or public
art can significantly contribute to restoring the character of a place and give meaning to space. Artistic interventions help create
a sense of belonging to certain space and therefore art really becomes public art – a driver and an actor in the public sphere.
A good example of “creating a place” is a land art installation in Bač (Serbia) carried out within the project “Pannonian Art Path”
by Academy of Arts Novi Sad and the Academy of Arts in Osijek as an EU IPA project. Land art is here shown as a possible strategy
of “creating a place”. Right next to the historic town of Bač, a medieval fortress and a cycling path which is a part of European
cycling routes, there is a land art feature - a mathematical symbol of infinity, a “reverse” number eight. Although it does not refer
to a specific location or to the history of the place, “the eight” creates a new topographical
or urban landmark. The symbolism of infinity refers to the infinity of art and the seeming
infinity of the path through the plain where it is located. Together with the characteristics
and urban equipment, this landmark becomes a new symbolic “place” in Bač - the loca-
tion whose aim is to gather its residents and to engage them in the life of this place. This
symbolic peripatetic “path of health” has no specific purpose but it metaphorically speaks
of the infinity of path to art. It is made of the historic stone cobbles found in Bođani and
is of a permanent character therefore creating the continuity of historical memory of the
location. (Picture 5)
Besides these art forms and strategies, the online presentation of art projects, creating
Picture 5. Land art installation in Bač | databases and online documentation also play an important role in popularisation of
public art. A crucial factor in all this is the education, because the recognition of public
art as a special area in the education of artists still does not exist in Serbia. Whichever
approach or strategy we choose when creating art in public space or public art, one thing is clear – there is not enough of it,
which again indicates a low level of art and democratic culture and less possibilities for the citizens to participate in the creation
of the public space.

Illustrations:
1. Picture 1. Monument to Alexander the Great, Skopje
2. Picture 2. Holocaust Memorial, Rachel Whiteread, Vienna
3. Picture 3. Novi Sad Quay
4. Picture 4. Armenian Church, Novi Sad
5. Picture 5. Land art installation in Bač

References:
1. Claire Bishop: Installation art, Tate Publishing, London, 2005.
2. Stevan Vuković: Umetnost u javnom prostoru , Academica, Užice 2012.
3. Werner Fenz: Umetnost bez rama, MSUV, Graz-Novi Sad in 2011.
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