Artist Talk: Public Art!

This was an artist talk that talked about how public art (graffiti, stickers, protest signs, etc.) is important to the space as well as the people that evolve around it. The talk also talked about how politics and art come together and express the interest or importance of the subject to the public sphere. The people that spoke at this panel style artist talk were: Diana Boros, Lisa Scheer, Billy Friebele, and Katie Gantz.

Professor Boros talked about how politics and art is important to the public space. She explained that the art in the public sphere "can redefine space by alerting the people of the interest". She gave a list of three ways that the art is important to the space, they were "beautification, the artist can perform direct protest, and this encourages participation of the general public". Professor Boros also talked about how the art takes the person's focus off of the stress by it being placed in the public sphere. She said that it also causes "motivation and creates new ideas". With this, participation with the art and the public is important.

Professor Scheer talked about her own work and how it is important in the public sphere. She started off by asking the question "What makes public art public?" She talked about how architecture was the first form of public art. She said that this inspired her to do installation and most of her art work. Professor Scheer also talked about public art is based on personal judgement and creativity and the art reacts with or engage with its environment. With this, she listed three things that the art must be aware of when making public art: Physical, where the art must work with the space and not just be added to it. Identification of where it is/ Location, the art must cooperate with the location. And community, the art works with the community with the different thoughts from the people (personal signification).

Professor Friebele talked about how art redetermines public space. He said that most public art must include or can include public interaction. And he also talk about how the development of technology can change public art in different ways. He also talked about how the person can be creative with the work by forming their own art with the public art that is already there.

Professor Gantz talked about the difference between monuments and graffiti. The location she based her lecture on was Paris and how their art has changed over time. She talked about how they first started off with architecture and how this made Paris beautiful. As time went on, graffiti artist as well as protesters started bringing their own personal views and interests in the streets through their public art. She said that the stickers, graffiti, and media public art shows or tells "their own personal story". But this can be compared to the monuments from the past because they tell a story as well.