The public sphere ("El/lo público")
Next session , Wednesday 14th October, 7:30 p.m. at the CENDEAC library. Everyone welcome.
In Spanish, “El público” and “lo público” have rather different connotations, if the first tends to be used in reference to the audience of some form of artistic presentation, the second is most commonly used to talk about property that is commonly held. However, the relationship between these two expressions reaches further than the dictionary. Some of the most seminal theorizations of the so-called “public sphere” have understood the field of art as a test-ground where certain equality claims could be rehearsed, that –even if they remained largely unrealized– could not be deemed socially inconsequential. Contemporary art still legitimizes itself, however unavowedly, by resorting to this ability to impact on the social.
The working group “El / Lo público” aims to question the possibility of conceiving a public sphere today, as well as the pertinence of holding onto an idea of the institutional space of art as a privileged site for it. Some of the questions with which the group sets out are:
– Does the classical formulation of the public sphere remain a useful (if contested) tool in the present?
– To what extent does estate funding remain crucial to the alleged “public” character of art institutions?
– What have we learnt from recent attempts at scrutinizing art institutions, what’s left, for example, of “new museology”, or “institutional critique”?
– What kind of presumed “publics” are contemporary art institutions talking to?
– What premises underlie the idea that the institutional space of art is a privileged site from which to conceive a public sphere that goes beyond the merely artistic?
– What can we make, politically, of the fact that a great deal of recent art revolves around ways of making the public “participate”?
The group sets itself out as a long-term project to explore these and other relevant questions. Some events have been programmed to take place alongside, and sustain our research. However, the idea is for members of the group to work together in order to propose the specific focus and content of future events.
Anyone interested in taking part, can receive further information by writing to grupos@cendeac.net . Alternatively, you can just turn up to the next scheduled meeting.
We are working to find a way of allowing people who live away from Murcia to take part in these groups remotely. If you are unable to travel to CENDEAC, but are interested in taking part, do get in touch at the address above.
If you want to know what we have been up to so far, click here.
