Public Interference

In search of a new connection with the public at large, artists penetrate neighborhoods, become involved with the urban planning and try to establish contact with their audience through the internet. In the seventies this type of social involvement was seen by artists as a formulated utopia. Nowadays it is not only being sought by artists but also by other disciplines and the government. Therefore the question becomes: Can artists still retain their much-desired social involvement in this new scenario?

SKOR invited a number of artists to give a presentation about their work while focusing on this theme.

Jeanne van Heeswijk

In all her work Jeanne van Heeswijk attempts to stimulate a dialog between artists, institutes and the public at large while seeking a new way of formulating the position of art in urban spaces. An example of this type of ‘urban curating’, as Heeswijk terms it, is De Strip, an art project that will be taking place during the coming 18 months in a former strip mall located in Westwijk, a district of Vlaardingen. (www.destrip-westwijk.nl)

Daniel Milohnic and Dirk Paschke, (formerly Phantombüro (Germany))

On the grounds of Frankfurt’s industrial zone, Daniel Milohnic and Dirk Paschke built a swimming pool, made of two large steel containers. It was open to the public all summer and was intended as an ironic comment on the commercialization of Frankfurt’s urban spaces. However with ‘Hafenbad’ Milohnic and Paschke also wanted to create a new space in the urban infrastructure that would serve as a platform for social interaction. (aka.ip-technik.net/milo/)

Max Bruinsma, design critic

‘Kunst als publieke ingreep’ (‘Art as public intervention’)

Klaar van der Lippe

More and more artists consider the experience that their audience undergoes to be the real representation their work. Even though they sometimes use 1960s performance techniques, artists nowadays do not focus on the process that they themselves undergo but, rather, on the experience that they elicit from their audience. In the Netherlands it is mainly Klaar van der Lippe who brings these issues to the forefront in her performances, which last the whole evening and during which she allows the audience to explore its own boundaries. Recently two of her permanent public space works were completed.

Dennis Adams (VS)

Since the early 1980s American artist, Dennis Adams, has been creating politically-laden photo installations in obviously public locations such as bus shelters, tunnels and kiosks etc. In doing so, he aims to instill in the public an awareness of the social context of the urban spaces in which they live and work.

QS Serafijn

In the future Doetinchem residents will be able to indirectly determine the color of the interactive ‘D-Tower’, which was developed by QS Serafijn and Lars Spuybroek. They will be able to do this by way of a customized website.