Contribution for Symposium:
Animation of Public Space through the Arts: Innovation and Sustainability.
Line Marie Bruun Jespersen
Title:
Collective reception of art in public space
Abstact:
Contemporary art for public space often take the form of interventions into an urban space,
where artists, by employing temporary structures, performative elements and a high
emphasis on the urban as a concept and context, aim at creating spaces, that promote
interaction, participation, and dialogue among people in the city. The aesthetics of art
interventions within this field can to some extend be described as relational aesthetics
(Bourriaud, 1998) and as collective reception (Macel, 2009), stressing the importance of the
audience´s participation. Critical voices have asked if relational aesthetics actually have the
potential of connecting people, (Søndergaard, 2006) and have made critical inquiry into the
inclusive potential of performance and participation in public, urban space (Skot-Hansen,
2007). These questions are very relevant for art in public space, where the notion of
collectivity is challenged by the complexity in modern cities. In this paper I discuss these
questions through a presentation of my observations and analysis of danish artist Jeppe Heins
outdoor installations Modified Social Benches, Århus, DK, 2009, and Appearing Rooms,
Cordoba, Spain, 2009. I address the concept of ”collective reception” in the two cases, and
show that there are different recipient roles within the collective reception, and that different
typologies of urban space offer different possibilities and limits to the collective reception.
Collective Reception of Art in Public Space
The focus of this paper collective reception, a concept derived from an article by Christine
Macel, she uses when writing about the installations of danish artist Jeppe Hein. Macel states
that Heins art call for, and stages collective reception, which means that the experience of his
installations is intended to be a communal experience, shared by a group of viewers (Macel
2009) The intended viewer is expected to be in plural; so the art experience is turned into a
social situation, where the presence of the audience plays a central part on multiple levels.
Some installations by Hein are interactive, some are active, kinectic installations, and some
are static installations, but all of them stress the presence of the audience.
In an urban, public space where
art experience is not Udfold…og vis Hein eksempel
In this context the art experience a social situation, which always is aimed at viewers in
plural, Udfold… og vis Hein eksempel
and that the social situtation, the intersubjective relation created by the installation is part of
the art work.
Udfold og vis Hein eksempel
Æstetik. This situative aesthetics (Camilla Jalving)
Relational aesthetics (Bourriaud)
På Museet OG i byen
Is well described in a art institutional context, but opens at the same time up for further
investigation when looking at art in
Art in public space – urban context (Jeppe Hein has actually made pjeces, tapping into the
discussion of the social fabric for urban life) (illutration: Jeppes 10 spørgsmål til bænke i
offentlige rum)
Hajer and Reijndorp. Cultural exchange.
Experience City
Møde ”de andre” (Sennett,
Dorte Skott: The city as a stage – but for whom?
Søndergaard: Connecting people???
Opsumm hvilke spørgsmål jeg synes er interessant i denne sammenhæng
Vise eksempler med korte konklusionsagtige statements ang. ”collective reception”:
Social Modified Benches, Århus, Denmark, 2009
Appearing Rooms, Cordoba, Spain, 2009
Konkusion.