making public / art

exhibition to coincide with the opening of SoundUnit
a public art commission by Chichester District Council, Rolls-Royce, University of Chichester.

17.06 – 30.07.2010 artOne building, University of Chichester

• DVD1: Construction SoundUnit (2009) Video 23 min, colour and sound.
  Documentation as part of the public art commission
• DVD2:  Making Public / Art (2008) Slide show 6 min, b/w and colour, no sound.
• desk: three random points (2007-2010) work in progress, desk, A4 prints, pins, string and pens.
• small prints: Making Public / Art (2008-10) Series of  A4 digital prints.
• large prints: Making Public / Art, on site (2010) digital print 1190 x 700 mm
• Making Public / Art, London (2010) digital print 840 x 560 mm
• Making Public / Art, Firenze (2010) digital print 840 x 560 mm
• Making Public / Art, New York (2010) digital print 840 x 560 mm

All work except DVD1 available for sale
please email wvr105 – at- gmail- dot-com
www.axisweb.org/artist/waltervanrijn

making art also means making public

For the public art commission I installed a sort of pavilion, which functions as art and at the same time as site to exhibit or just a place to use. In a way the artwork occupies 2 worlds. First as object belonging to a category of art works, primarily linked to artists. Second as context, a situation as a framework for art, which is primarily linked to the public. That this work occupies both positions is a cause for a lot of confusion not only because they are intricately linked but also because I have consciously blurred these two positions.

In the exhibition I have extended this strategy by opening up ways to explore the idea that making art also means making public. Not only in the sense of display and exhibition, but also in the sense that each art work creates a situation and an audience.

Each site and each object has its potential users, but it is the users who have the choice to go or to engage. Museums and galleries are sites that select what can be seen or said at a particular place and time.  They also manage the behaviour of the audience for instance no eating, drinking, photographing, sleeping, making lots of noise etc. The works Making Public / Art are blurring the object/site aspects of art, by creating shortcuts in the normal procedures of the art world. Procedures that narrate and validate a particular thing as art. These images document a validation of art and the choices I have as artist and as public.  Walter van Rijn

A unique public art sculpture at the University of Chichester

The University of Chichester, in partnership with Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and Chichester District Council, is delighted to officially announce the opening of the ‘SoundUnit’ a unique experimental pavilion on 17th June 2010.

Photo’s by Hannah Williams
Administrator in Marketing & Communications, University of Chichester.
see http://www.flickr.com/photos/universityofchichester/

Exhibition: Making Public/Art

During July 2010 there will be an exhibition of work that is related to the SoundUnit
and the notion that making art also means making public….

Location: artOne foyer, Bishop Otter Campus, University of Chichester.

Artwork installed, within budget and constructed within time. Better pictures will arrive soon.

Opening to be announced. As this pavilion is situated in a public place have a look and interact by all means…

1) No Room to Move: Radical Art and the Regenerate City

2) The Practice of Public Art

A recent anthology about the fine art discipline of public art. A very good resource for theory, practice and history, although many essays are about the United States.

Cartiere, C. and Willis, S. (2008). The practice of public art. London: Routledge.

A Public art definition  (p15) or working definition: “there are recognised directions within public art practice that serve to define the field:
Public art is art outside of museums and galleries and must fit within at least one of the following categories:
1. in a place accessible or visible to the public: in public
2. concerned with or affecting the community or individuals: public interest
3. maintained for or used by the community or individuals: public place
4. paid for by the public: publicly funded”

I would consider the University grounds a semi-public place, but taken that aside, the SoundUnit ticks 4 boxes!

3) Open

Cahier on Art and the Public Domain

A critical platform for discussions of theory and practice:
Published by SKOR, a Dutch organisation which develops and realises art projects in public space.
Some articles are online available:

http://www.skor.nl/set-635-en.html

“Open is a cahier that reflects upon contemporary public space from a cultural perspective. Through a thematic investigation into the changing conditions of public space and through new ideas relating to this space, Open aims to make a structural contribution to the development of theories about these subjects and to function as a platform for reflection on socio-cultural and artistic practices.

Open wants to create and stimulate autonomous and experimental ideas concerning art and the public domain. Theme issues have featured such subjects as security, memory, visibility, sound, tolerance, hybrid space, cultural freedom, the rise of informal media, art as a public issue and manufacturability. In addition to essays and more project-related texts, Open also includes book reviews and interviews with artists and theorists.”

Foto by Bob Marshall

The stripes are a reminder that this project is based on drawing. I am aiming for an end result that looks like something that comes strait from a CAD (computer assisted drawing). A 3D graphic materialised. I’m almost there…