Participatory Works Research Articles

Participatory art and the impossible public

Abstract Arts discourse abounds with references and concessions to the public – that disorderedly mass of individuals who may stumble across the threshold of the public museum. Likewise, the public is invoked in conjunction with public engagement with art, or with public galleries, public funding, public art and so on. In spite of the institutional and critical focus on art’s public dimensions intensifying since the 1990s (from Suzanne Lacy’s ‘new genre public art’ to Nicolas Bourriaud’s ‘relational aesthetics’, Grant Kester’s writings on ‘dialogical art’ and Claire Bishop’s on participation) it seems an oversight that the relationship between art and the public as such has not been considered in any significant critical depth. At the same time, much of this critical discourse has appeared within a politico-economic climate of neo-liberal capitalism, which has devastatingly (re)fashioned the public in its own image. This article argues that it is precisely this potential dimension of the public that a number of contemporary artists are testing or seeking to redeem. It contends that the public’s definitive excess, the impossibility of pinning it down, is also its potent political and democratic potential. I focus on participatory works by the former collaborative duo Komar and Melamid, and by Stuart Ringholt, arguing that each work contributes to unique understandings of the public with respect to contemporary art.

Curating Resistances: Ambivalences and Potentials of Contemporary Art Biennials

The idea of enabling resistant narratives to neoliberalism through dialogical and participatory works, steadily informs the agenda of perennial large-scale exhibitions of contemporary art (biennials) around Europe and the world. Somewhat paradoxically, the proliferation of such shows since the early 1990s depends on this very neoliberal model that values culture for its measurable outcomes. By discussing such predicaments of the “biennial phenomenon,” this article lays out its ambivalences and potentials within the current political–economic context. Moreover, through looking at the case of the 7th Berlin Biennale (2012), a controversial exhibition that prioritized activism and the “real effects” of art in society, the article suggests that such biennial complexities could be better addressed through ethnographic methodologies.

‘The Open Work’: Ecologies of participation

Audience engagement with a sound work can extend beyond fixed conventions in which roles of creation and reception are separate. In an ‘open work’ these roles are blurred, and the audience takes on an active part of co-creation. Participatory sound works can be considered as ecologies of engagement rather than fixed compositions. Technologies of dissemination and interactivity have become part of the design of such ecologies, and sound artists have integrated them in highly diverse works. Two main aspects of participatory ecologies will be considered: the continuum of ‘active interpretation’ to ‘co-authorship’ and the creation of a community of intersubjectivity. These two aspects will be discussed in the context of a range of sound works, including the author's workShadowgraphs(2009/11) and its interconnected manifestations: an installation, a live performance and a blog.

Disobedience: An Ongoing Video Archive

November 01 2018 Disobedience: An Ongoing Video Archive Nomeda Urbonas, Nomeda Urbonas Nomeda Urbonas is ACT Fellow and PhD candidate at NTNU, Norway. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Gediminas Urbonas Gediminas Urbonas Gediminas Urbonas is Associate Professor at the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology.Nomeda Urbonas and Gediminas Urbonas are artists, educators, and co-founders of Urbonas Studio—an interdisciplinary research program that advocates for the reclamation of public culture in the face of overwhelming privatization, stimulating cultural and political imagination as tools for social change. Often beginning with archival research, their methodology unfolds complex participatory works investigating the urban environment, architectural developments, and cultural and technological heritage. Urbonas are co-founders of the Transaction Archive and co-directors of the Pro-test Lab Archive. Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Scholar Author and Article Information Nomeda Urbonas Nomeda Urbonas is ACT Fellow and PhD candidate at NTNU, Norway. Gediminas Urbonas Gediminas Urbonas is Associate Professor at the MIT Program in Art, Culture and Technology.Nomeda Urbonas and Gediminas Urbonas are artists, educators, and co-founders of Urbonas Studio—an interdisciplinary research program that advocates for the reclamation of public culture in the face of overwhelming privatization, stimulating cultural and political imagination as tools for social change. Often beginning with archival research, their methodology unfolds complex participatory works investigating the urban environment, architectural developments, and cultural and technological heritage. Urbonas are co-founders of the Transaction Archive and co-directors of the Pro-test Lab Archive. Online Issn: 2572-7338 Print Issn: 1091-711X © 2013 Nomeda Urbonas and Gediminas Urbonas2013Nomeda Urbonas and Gediminas Urbonas Thresholds (2013) (41): 130–133. https://doi.org/10.1162/thld_a_00103 Cite Icon Cite Permissions Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Search Site Citation Nomeda Urbonas, Gediminas Urbonas; Disobedience: An Ongoing Video Archive. Thresholds 2013; (41): 130–133. doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/thld_a_00103 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentAll JournalsThresholds Search Advanced Search This content is only available as a PDF. © 2013 Nomeda Urbonas and Gediminas Urbonas2013Nomeda Urbonas and Gediminas Urbonas Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

The dual roles of the spectator as active viewer and intended author in participatory database art

This paper addresses the role of the spectator in participatory works of database art. Research into the spectator’s role focuses on two leading concepts: open work and participatory culture. We then identify characteristics of participatory database art in terms of authorship, empowerment, and autonomy. Collective authorship consists of an artist’s intention to endow spectators with a certain level of authorship. The implications of the spectator’s role in participatory database art are fully discussed and compared to the concept of the implied reader in reception theory. We conclude that the spectator is both an active viewer and an intended author.

Dialogues and Doings: Sketching the Relationships Between Geography and Art

Geographers have engaged with a huge variety of art practices in the study of a range of different geographical themes. Using a series of examples including painting, mixed-media art and contemporary participatory works this paper explores three of these themes: landscape, critical spatialities and participation. Two different, although often entwined methodological approaches are set out, ‘dialogues’ whereby geographers interpret and analyse art works, and ‘doings’ in which geographers become exhibition curators, collaborate with artists and even become creative practitioners in their own right. During its course the paper considers the potential of the geographical study of art works to contribute to contemporary disciplinary debates around embodied experience, practice and more-than-human worlds. The paper also points towards a series of resources to help guide further study.

Ethnographic Terminalia 2010: New Orleans—27 Works

The projects presented in Ethnographic Terminalia 2010: New Orleans—27 Works contextualize each work within the 2010 exhibition installed in New Orleans at the Du Mois Gallery. The summary of each project in this article captures the methodology of research that informs the conversation between art and anthropology, as well as demonstrating the full scope of the exhibition that includes works from film to photography, material culture, installation, and participatory works. Artists' bios are coupled with their own commentary on the nuanced details of how the projects relate to the discourses of art and anthropology. This article is also used to situate the curatorial goals of the Ethnographic Terminalia collective to move beyond the exhibition catalog in order to archive the project in an alternative form.

Competence and employment forum

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to find a model for the individual employee, the employer, the supervisors and the personnel at HR to manage organizational and individual changes. The objective of the model is to manage the changes in parallel with the competence (HRD) and employment (HRM) aspects.Design/methodology/approachThe research strategy is a constructive case study and the research design follows action research design. The research methods are interviews, essays, participatory group works, benchmarking and workshops with various stakeholders. The data collection methods during the cycles were qualitative and participative.FindingsThe main product of the research is the competence and employment forum model. The constructed forum model provides reasonable support for the employees and the employer in various organizational and individual change situations.Research limitations/implicationsThe research context is an educational consortium in Southern Finland. Thus the results of the study are case‐dependent and cannot be transferred directly into another context. The model can be modified for use in other contexts.Practical implicationsThe paper describes the construction phases of the forum model and thus provides the management and HR personnel with a step‐by‐step approach for constructing various new operational models for organizations. The paper discusses the need for closer interaction of HRD and HRM practices.Originality/valueToday, HRD and HRM functions have to develop new working methods and models to be able to work together in unexpectedly changing contexts. The strength of the forum model is in the theory base. The phases of the action research are carefully implemented to produce a model for practical use. This model is the first to consider a wide range of change situations from organizational changes to medically verified occupational decline of the individual.

Development of Small-scale Fishway and Farmers Participatory Works for Preserving Ecological Corridor in Rice Paddy Area

Development of Small-scale Fishway and Farmers Participatory Works for Preserving Ecological Corridor in Rice Paddy Area

Creative Participatory Behavior in a Programmed World

The author has created and used a suite of computer programs called Smallworld to identify the essential characteristics of participatory works of art that use computer technology. The origins and development of Smallworld are described here and the findings of the research summarized. The author identifies as most significant a compound characteristic that emerges as common to all participatory works of art that use computer technology: the degree and manner of control afforded to participants. Artists can be seen as composers of the changing degree and manner of control. Participants interpret the compositions, just as musicians interpret musical compositions. The quality of the realization of the work will depend on participant skill in using the physical and programmed interface.