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http://dx.doi.org/10.17703/JCCT.2021.7.3.197

Alternative Ideas of Publicness in Contemporary Public Art: Focusing on the Artworks of Freee Art Collective  

Lim, Shan (Dept. of Curatorial Studies, Dongduk Women's University)
Publication Information
The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology / v.7, no.3, 2021 , pp. 197-202 More about this Journal
Abstract
This paper focuses on the situation in which, as pluralistic democracy spreads globally from the mid-20th century, the concept of publicness, the reason for the existence of traditional public art, is not limited to the physicality of occupying public space or the conditions for creation by public funds, but is seeking a new direction and examine the social significance of these changes. For this purpose, the main body of this paper analyzes the major public art projects of Freee Art Collective who were active in the UK in the early 2000s. Freee performed various public art projects in which individuals constituting a community critically reflect on political, social, and economic issues related to public goods and provide a discourse space for democratic discussion. Their practice suggested a methodology for socially-engaged public art that resists the "Third Way" cultural policy of the New Labour administration. Therefore, this paper argues that Freee's public art seeks alternatives to publicness in that it allows one to resistively think about problematic aspects of hegemonic cultural production of neoliberal cultural policy that pursues political consensus and social harmony. This research about Freee's public art would be significant in that it can serve as an opportunity for critical reflection on the contemplative form and public role of contemporary public art.
Keywords
Public Art; Freee Art Collective; Publicness; Socially-engaged Art; New Labour;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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