TY - JOUR AU - Verkasalo, Aino PY - 2012/01/01 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Amatöörien elinympäristötaide lähiöissä JF - Alue ja Ympäristö JA - A&Y VL - 41 IS - 1 SE - Artikkelit DO - UR - https://aluejaymparisto.journal.fi/article/view/64713 SP - 14-26 AB - <p>This article addresses amateur environmental art in Finnish suburbs. The phenomenon in question is a<br>range of art created by non-professionals in public or semi-public spaces in suburban environments. The<br>concept combines different branches of art, such as environmental art, street art, community art and<br>contemporary folk art. The term ‘artification’ is used to refer to the pervasion of art into everyday spaces.<br>The objective of the article is to grasp the significance of local art and its potential from the perspective<br>of local development. The article is based on interviews with experts and artists as well as examples from<br>literature. The meaning of amateur art in suburban spaces is viewed from three angles: it opens up possibilities<br>for experiencing the physical environment as being homelier and more owned by the dwellers,<br>for making social connections and for transforming an anonymous space into a special place. The concepts<br>of loose and tight space, site-specificity, non-place and interactional space are applied to offer different<br>points of view on the subject matter. The article concludes that amateur environmental art may affect local<br>development in a symbolic, operational, communicative and spatial ways.</p> ER -