Julkisen taiteen kolme muotoa

Abstract

The article deals with three versions of public art:
art in the city, art in the media, and art mixed with
non-art public phenomena such as advertising. It
analyzes how different publicity contexts affect artworks
and art projects. In the first two modes (city
and media) it is posited that art normally clearly
remains art, although specific examples can vary
widely in either their support of accepted art, media
and city culture traditions or their desire to distance
themselves from those traditions. The differences
between these first two modes are traced through
three suppositions, namely that art in the media
tends to be more artist-bound, more ephemeral, and
less local than art in the city. The art status of the
third ”mixed” mode is less clear, although like the
first two modes specific examples can vary in their
acceptance or rejection of traditional definitions
and practices. Each of the three modes are analyzed
through examples taken from both the Finnish and
international art scenes. The emphasis is on visual
public art, although other art forms are mentioned.
The aim is to show that public art is not monolithic
in nature, but is instead composed of several interrelated
threads.