Public Art and Public Culture in/of Public Space

The social and political context in which public art in/and public space are defined, and acquire meaning, is often based on the idea that both ought to affirm the existing social contract. In public discourses and in policy-making circles alike, the way to achieve such an objective is either by building or by reinforcing social consensus, sometimes through coercion. Critical scholarship on public art has since 1970s argued that the meaning of “public art” and “art in public space” is always contingent on historical circumstances and should not be found through a search for the origins—of neither public space nor public art—but be continuously questioned in the context of present circumstances, and through democratic contestation. The work of Krzysztof Wodiczko departs from the recognition that democratic process is contingent upon the freedom of speech and expression in public space.