BIZARRE LOVE TRIANGLE. THE PUBLIC SCULPTURES OF NOVI SAD

ART IN PUBLIC SPACE: SPATIAL STRATEGIES Miroslav Šilić Abstract The aim of this paper is to clarify the concepts of public art and public space, possible art forms and modes of action, but also the ways citizens can participate in public space. The term “strategy” is used due to the complexity of the problem of art in public space and it includes a number of factors: planning, financing, permits, public tenders etc. Following the main theme of the meeting “Sculpture in Public Space”, the article discusses the possibilities of artistic activities in less traditional, contemporary modes of artistic expression such as installations, objects, interventions and the possibility of creating a “place” through art in public space.

The concept of public art Art in public space comprises all forms of art that are implemented in public space: from traditional sculptures to installations, objects, murals, street art, performances, happenings etc. The broader term of art in public space denotes all the activities which shape public urban spaces like urban planning, architecture, urban furniture, lighting and many more.

Art in public space implies a wider audience than the art displayed in galleries and is more prone to criticism because it is directly interwoven in daily life. All of us are the audience of public art, whether we like it or not. For this reason, it is important to determine what our rights are when it comes to the use and creation of public space.

The concept and the genesis of public space Public space was established during the development of the Ancient Greek polis as an agora, which served as a meeting place for the discussion of public issues and finding the solution for them. Agora was also the place where the town hall was situated.

This tells us about the level of awareness and the importance of public space since ancient times. Starting from the agora and later on from the Roman Forum, different forms of organised public life were built up, among which the most important was certainly the city square.

Public space requires a democratic society; it is a place of debates, while public art implies the audience of active citizens with critical views. The opposite of a citizen is not a peasant, but a vassal1. Therefore, architecture is the kind of art that determines the public space as physical, but also as mental space i.e. the public sphere. There is no dichotomy between the concepts of architecture and public space as architecture is the very essence of public space. It is a projection of human needs, habits and beliefs within the space and the framework of its movement. As such, it creates public space both physically and in the sense of meaning and has a twofold role in articulating public art. The first role, immanent in the very architecture, is the physical creation of space, i.e. the architecture as the scene of events. The second, in a broad sense of the term public art can become, through the processes of architectural design, a player in the field of urban design, planning of the location for monuments and inclusion of the citizens and artists in the process of spatial planning.

Who does public space belong to?

The crucial issue regarding public space refers to the question of ownership, i.e. answers a broader sociological question: who is entitled to the city? The question of the participation in managing - how to act on the interests of the public, what are the interests and how many of them are at citizens’ disposal when it comes to managing the public space.

Architecture as art in public space is manifested in the fact that it constitutes public space by itself, although we tend to miss this point as we look at architecture not as art, but as something which is found within space itself - as something that occurs KsenijaPetovar, a sociologist http://www.kontrapress.com/clanak.php?rub=Razgovori&url=Beograd-na-vodi-i-njegovi-podanici 26 1