Public art debate: Part 1

29 July 2014

Who is public art for? Who is it commissioned and made by, and why? These and many other questions are addressed by two panels of distinguished artists, architects and public art commissioners to celebrate Lisson Gallery's exhibition, Genius Loci – Spirit of Place. The first took place on 31 May in London and featured:

Ekow Eshun, Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group (chair)
Lewis Biggs, Folkestone Triennial
Kevin Carmody, Architect
Tamsin Dillon, Curator
Spencer Finch, Artist
Greg Hilty, Curatorial Director
Deyan Sudjic, Design Museum

“In the great debate and battle currently being waged over who commissions or controls what kind of public art gets made and seen in our urban centres, it should never be forgotten that the art and the artist should first and foremost have their own integrity to enable a confident and sympathetic engagement with the place and its architecture. In order to create satisfying places to live and work, we must first create meaningful symbolic structures that form relationships between us and our surroundings. When architects, artists, developers, and planners understand fully this, then the results can have the character of genius.” Statement taken from this article in Blueprint Magazine, June, 2014, written by Ossian Ward, Head of Content, Lisson Gallery:

http://www.designcurial.com/news/ossian-ward-4287953/