| Summary: | This study explores the ways in which public art contributes to the creation of (geographical) community identity. More specifically, it investigates the meanings people assign to works of public art and the origins of those meanings. This is achieved through the medium of semi-structured interviews with people involved in either the production or consumption of three works of public art based in the Merseyside area: Superlambanana (Liverpool), Another Place (Crosby/Sefton) and Dream (St Helens). The findings from the study are three-fold. Firstly, they reveal the structural power disparities between the various parties involved in the creation of the artworks, particularly between the aesthetically influential members of the artistic network and members of the public. Secondly, they illustrate the importance of place in the interpretation of the meaning of the artworks and, thirdly, the findings show that members of the public interact with and experience the artworks in a variety of ways which, in turn, shape the ways in which they relate to the artwork. Overall, the results of the research illustrate the three-way interrelationship between (i) the artwork, (ii) the place in which the artwork is located, and (iii) the people who live in the place in which the artwork is located. All three should therefore be taken into account when considering a work of public art, particularly in the context of a work of public art that is intended to symbolise a geographical community. From a theoretical point of view, this means exploring the different ways in which people interact with and give meaning to a work of public art; from a social policy point of view, this means downplaying the prospective economic outcomes of a work of public art in favour of integrating the artwork into people's everyday lives.
|
|---|
