Kunst und Öffentlichkeit

Art in the public realm

In the 1990s many art venues transformed themselves into forums of discussion of political and social themes. It shifted the Institutional Critique of the 1980s to the analysis of the influence of the mass media on public spaces more and more conditioned by economics. For a few years now this critique has brought the “protected spaces” of the art world directly into the public realm. Adressing the construction of public space on a social, economic, and political level, these investigations and cultural interventions are new lines of inquiry for art historians. This is precisely what the research project “Kunst Öffentlichkeit Zürich” (Art in Zurich’s public spaces) has been based on, taking the city as a test case and a field for experimentation.

With contributions by artists Monica Bonvicini, Matthew Buckingham, Harun Farocki, Knowbotic Research, Claudia and Julia Müller, Lawrence Weiner, San Keller, and Shirana Shahbazi.

Published with the HGKZ, Zurich.