Process and (As) Community in Public Art: Audience Participation in Creating Art, Place and Meaning

Public art has the potential to create meaning and a sense of place/community for the built environment and can contribute to an enrichment of the user experience. However, there are a range of problems and opportunities associated with the expectations of client, architect, building employees and users/community. Budget and technical issues also impact on the process and it is sometimes difficult for an artist to maintain the integrity of the creative process and to satisfy competing expectations. Using several of his public art projects in Queensland as examples, Kevin Todd will give an artist's view of his creative engagement with audience and challenge traditional notions of art practice. Is the traditional concept of the artist as an autonomous, creative individual useful for public art or should projects be approached and framed much like a design problem? To what extent should context shape the creative process/content and what consideration should be given to the audience (the public in public art) and the reception of the finished works? Shouldn't successful public art essentially be local even if we sometimes frame artistic/cultural discourse as global? The process of involving audience in the creation of artworks in an inclusive and cooperative manner will serve as a case study for creating a sense of community, meaning and ownership in relation to place. Kevin will discuss the role of public artworks in bringing a disparate audience together and the value of an inclusive creative engagement/process in creating a community through participation.