Exposed Cities: a taxonomy of the public realm in art

Abstract

From the initiatives of twentieth century, the urban realm offers to art the possibility of proving languages in a greater scale and in a more complex communication plan, formed by different communities and landscapes. In that language, multiple voices participate including unexpected forces and conflicts of translation of speeches, updating the old idea of public art based on the consensual. In the 90s, nevertheless, the institutionalization of the category of public art allowed works to be transferred to the public space as monumental embelissement. Against that, many artists proposed ephemeral interventions in a city-screen with texts and images. Ten years later, with the extended use of Internet and after repeated experiences of territories of world-wide intolerance, in which terms can we speak of public art? Based on recent artistic practices, provisional categories for the public dimension of art will be suggested.