Public Art Today: Creating a Public Through Collaborative Art Installations
A growing trend in recent decades is for artists to create art installations that invite or require some level of participation by the public. Waterfire, Providence by artist Barnaby Evans, the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D. C., by Maya Lin, and the Gates in Central Park by Christo and Jeanne-Claude are well-known examples.
This illustrated talk, which is grew out of the The Commonplace Project at the North Kingstown Free Library, will examine a wide range of public/collaborative art installations from environmental art to the AIDS quilt and discuss some answers to questions about recent trends in public art including:
What are the roots of this art movement? What motivates artists to make art that engages the public as collaborators rather than spectators? What questions do such installations raise about the nature and definition of art in contemporary society and the role of the artist? How does participatory art impact on ideas/ideals of community,democracy, and public dialogue? How does it relate to the American tradition of the commons as a forum for diverse points of view?
Needs: Powerpoint projector/screen; lighted lectern/water
Sandra Aarons Krupp, MSW, is a visual artist whose practice includes developing community based art projects that invite the public to create art together. "Draw & Doodle Do!" involved 250 North Kingstown residents in the international "Big Draw" project. She also developed "The Commonplace Project" at the North Kingstown Free Library,which invited library patrons to submit memorable literary quotes which they then incorporated into large collage pieces for exhibit at the library. Krupp's paintings have been shown throughout New England and has taught classes on fostering creativity for 30 years.