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Public Art and the Fragility of Democracy : An Essay in Political Aesthetics / Fred Evans.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Columbia Themes in Philosophy, Social Criticism, and the ArtsPublisher: New York, NY : Columbia University Press, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Description: 1 online resource : 22 b&w illustrationsContent type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780231187589
  • 9780231547369
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 701/.03
LOC classification:
  • BH301.P64 E93 2018
  • BH301.P64
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. DEMOCRACY'S FRAGILITY AND THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF PUBLIC ART -- 2. VOICES AND PLACES: THE SPACE OF PUBLIC ART AND WODICZKO'S THE HOMELESS PROJECTION -- 3. DEMOCRACY'S "EMPTY PLACE": RAWLS'S POLITICAL LIBERALISM AND DERRIDA'S DEMOCRACY TO COME -- 4. PUBLIC ART'S "PLAIN TABLET": THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF CONTEMPORARY ART -- 5. DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC ART: BADIOU AND RANCIÈRE -- 6. THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF CHICAGO'S MILLENNIUM PARK -- 7. THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF NEW YORK'S NATIONAL 9/11 MEMORIAL -- 8. PUBLIC ART AS AN ACT OF CITIZENSHIP -- Appendix: Badiou on "Being and the Void" -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX
Summary: Public space is political space. When a work of public art is put up or taken down, it is an inherently political statement, and the work's aesthetics are inextricably entwined with its political valences. Democracy's openness allows public art to explore its values critically and to suggest new ones. However, it also facilitates artworks that can surreptitiously or fortuitously undermine democratic values. Today, as bigotry and authoritarianism are on the rise and democratic movements seek to combat them, as Confederate monuments fall and sculptures celebrating diversity rise, the struggle over the values enshrined in the public arena has taken on a new urgency.In this book, Fred Evans develops philosophical and political criteria for assessing how public art can respond to the fragility of democracy. He calls for considering such artworks as acts of citizenship, pointing to their capacity to resist autocratic tendencies and reveal new dimensions of democratic society. Through close considerations of Chicago's Millennium Park and New York's National September 11 Memorial, Evans shows how a wide range of artworks participate in democratic dialogues. A nuanced consideration of contemporary art, aesthetics, and political theory, this book is a timely and rigorous elucidation of how thoughtful public art can contribute to the flourishing of a democratic way of life.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780231547369

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- 1. DEMOCRACY'S FRAGILITY AND THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF PUBLIC ART -- 2. VOICES AND PLACES: THE SPACE OF PUBLIC ART AND WODICZKO'S THE HOMELESS PROJECTION -- 3. DEMOCRACY'S "EMPTY PLACE": RAWLS'S POLITICAL LIBERALISM AND DERRIDA'S DEMOCRACY TO COME -- 4. PUBLIC ART'S "PLAIN TABLET": THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF CONTEMPORARY ART -- 5. DEMOCRACY AND PUBLIC ART: BADIOU AND RANCIÈRE -- 6. THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF CHICAGO'S MILLENNIUM PARK -- 7. THE POLITICAL AESTHETICS OF NEW YORK'S NATIONAL 9/11 MEMORIAL -- 8. PUBLIC ART AS AN ACT OF CITIZENSHIP -- Appendix: Badiou on "Being and the Void" -- NOTES -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Public space is political space. When a work of public art is put up or taken down, it is an inherently political statement, and the work's aesthetics are inextricably entwined with its political valences. Democracy's openness allows public art to explore its values critically and to suggest new ones. However, it also facilitates artworks that can surreptitiously or fortuitously undermine democratic values. Today, as bigotry and authoritarianism are on the rise and democratic movements seek to combat them, as Confederate monuments fall and sculptures celebrating diversity rise, the struggle over the values enshrined in the public arena has taken on a new urgency.In this book, Fred Evans develops philosophical and political criteria for assessing how public art can respond to the fragility of democracy. He calls for considering such artworks as acts of citizenship, pointing to their capacity to resist autocratic tendencies and reveal new dimensions of democratic society. Through close considerations of Chicago's Millennium Park and New York's National September 11 Memorial, Evans shows how a wide range of artworks participate in democratic dialogues. A nuanced consideration of contemporary art, aesthetics, and political theory, this book is a timely and rigorous elucidation of how thoughtful public art can contribute to the flourishing of a democratic way of life.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Mrz 2022)