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Who is the public, and what space is theirs?

Sarah Kanouse, a talented local artist and activist probes the question of the existence and/or purpose of public space in her MFA thesis show piece titled "The Public Square." The piece uses a variety of technologies and public meetings to address the answer to this question. From her website:

While microphones record museum murmurings in a square claimed as public, people gather to make public what before was merely space. For the three-week duration of the MFA exhibition at the Krannert Art Museum, in Champaign, IL, participatory events occur daily in roaming public spaces around the city. Museum viewers become speakers by using microphones to rupture the spectatorship, privilege, and permanence of the public museum, and spectators become discussants by joining or questioning the gatherings. The sounds from each location are relayed to the other space to contrast the implicit or explicit limits on engagement established by those who monitor, manage, and control.

The work seems particularly relevant in our current political climate, which is dominated by attempts to enact significant restrictions of free speech. The USA PATRIOT act has allowed the government to essentially silence those who protest against it by pushing them into "free-speech" zones--areas hidden from public view, miles away from the activity being criticized. Our government is conducting a war that was sold to the public with undisputable lies, yet that same public is labeled 'unpatriotic' for criticizing the war and seems afraid of admitting its faults for initially supporting it. Classified documents revealing the government's conduct surrounding 9/11 are kept from the 9/11 commission, only to be declassified on a whim for the purposes of political retribution. Major media is increasingly dominated by a very small number of global corporations whose financial interests conflict with objective reporting of almost any government action. Press conferences with the President or his spokespersons are designed to ask little and reveal nothing of substance.

Perhaps more important than the question of public space is the question of who is the public? Is the public the common person, working a job, reading the paper, voting one vote? Is it the corporate CEO, buying political campaigns and reaping political favors? Is it the government elite, collecting that money and handing out changes that help their 'investors'?

Certainly many in positions of power hold little regard for the regular public. Those without power don't consider those in power as part of their public. Perhaps the public is most accurately defined as those with similar standing to oneself, as those with more or less power rarely seem to be subject to the same sets of rules or restrictions. How can a public be all-inclusive if those included aren't participating on equal terms?

These are a few of the things that Sarah's work brings up for me at this stage, as gleaned through the website. On her project blog, she explores questions such as why public space matters, as well as looking at the successes and failures surrounding the implementation of this piece so far. I look forward to the opening of the show this evening, and to various events throughout its duration. I encourage you to visit her project homepage, and to listen to a live webstream from the museum. If you're in central IL, check out the event schedule and drop by sometime.

Posted on April 24, 2004 01:15 PM

Comments

Umm...shouldn't that be "Who _are_ the public?"

Posted by Al on May 5, 2004 11:15 AM

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