Public Art: A Critical Approach

Abstract

In this dissertation, I provide a philosophical analysis of public art. I focus on its "publicness," and draw implications at the level of public art's ontology, appreciation, and value. I uphold the view that an artwork is public when received within a public sphere rather than within artworld institutions. I further argue that, as a consequence of the peculiar nature of its reception, public art possesses an essential value that is distinctively non-aesthetic: to promote political participation and to encourage tolerance. By examining how public art and its value(s) relate to the public domain in the context of pluralistic democracies, this dissertation also contributes to a fuller understanding of an important aspect of our social world. Chapter 1 introduces the scope and nature of the dissertation and emphasizes few important caveats. Chapter 2 develops a general characterization of public art's "publicness." It argues that what makes an artwork public is the context within which it is received: public artworks are received within a public sphere, that is, the public-art sphere, rather than within artworld institutions. Chapter 3 expands the account of the public-art sphere as developed in Chapter 2, and argues that public artworks address a multiplicity of publics and are received within a multiplicity of public-art spheres. Chapter 4 offers a sustained account of the pluralistic logic by means of which participants evaluate opinions expressed in discussions within public-art sphere. Chapter 5 explores the role that emotional reactions play in public-art spheres. It argues that warranted emotional reactions can function as premises of arguments proposed in public-art spheres. Chapter 6 discusses the ontology of public artworks. It suggests that some of the real properties that a public artwork has are a function of some features of the public-art sphere within which that artwork is received. Chapter 7 explains the value of public art. It holds that public art's value is a function of its capacity to promote political participation and to encourage tolerance.

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