Bristol-based public art agency Situations has announced a national programme of talks, films, workshops and a publication, Public Art Now, that considers changing approaches to public art over the last ten years.
Launching on 4 May with a lecture by Jeremy Deller at John Wesley’s Chapel in Bristol, the Public Art Now: Live events programme will seek to highlight the practices of artists working internationally who have chosen to ‘unsettle place identity, disrupt and intrude into the everyday, and contest the use of public space rather than predetermine its design’.
Public Art Now also includes a series of workshops devised by Situations in conjunction with the University of Central Lancashire. These look to develop a ‘new methodology for evaluating public art’ and to consider how evaluation can ‘unlock the deeper story of an artwork’s effects on the imagination’. The Thinking Beyond Measure workshops will take place throughout May in Bristol, London, Leeds and Birmingham.
In order to invite new voices into the programme, Situations is offering travel bursaries for writers and artists to attend both live events and workshops and to publish their thoughts on the Public Art Now blog. Live events will also be streamed free of charge and Situations is hoping organisations will host their own ‘live-streaming events’ in support of the programme.
Later in the year, a new survey publication edited by Situations director Claire Doherty will bring together over 40 of the most influential public artworks of the past decade. Out of Time, Out of Place: Public Art (Now) will be published in October by Art / Books, in association with Public Art Agency Sweden and the European Network of Public Art Producers.
Jeremy Deller’s lecture will also form part of the inaugural Bristol Art Weekender celebrations taking place across the city during the May Day bank holiday weekend.
More information at www.situations.org.uk
More on a-n.co.uk:
Public Art – because you’re worth it by Claire Doherty
Journey’s end for Nowhereisland by Michaela Nettell
