A PERMANENT
RESOURCE
AT PUBLIC SPACE ONE: PUBLIC DOCUMENT FILES
30 artists/artist groups were invited to produce a PDF file on their own work as well as 10 files on artists or subjects they think are related to ideas surrounding public and social art work. Each file indicates both the subject and the artist/group that selected it. Public Document Files is a permanent public resource that is to be housed in the Public Space One office after the duration of the exhibition.
The artists and groups that I invited to contribute to this archive of research on social and public art I feel are best able to contribute their knowledge and interests to this resource, these include he Social Evolution Research Gang (S.E.R.G), Hideous Beast, and many contributors who have involvement in the various MFA Art and Social Practice/Public Practice programs on the West Coast including the California College of the Arts, Otis and Portland State University. What these files constitute is a public resource that reflects what these artists find significant, creating what contributor Matthew Rana from the Social Practice concentration at CCA describes as a canon of social practice:
As a permanent public resource and research tool, the Public Document Files project in many ways works to construct a kind of canon of what social practice within the art context might mean. The project was invitational and as such represents a very specific set of interests from a specific set of artists working within a specific set of practices. And so, it seems to me that being asked to produce files on artists or subjects that I think are related to ideas surrounding socially engaged art work, while basically asking “what is interesting to you?” is also asking “what is valuable and worth
researching within this field?” While I’m generally hesitant to delimit social practice in this way, I also recognize that it’s already happening; why not jump in?
Nearly 20 artists jumped in and over 170 files were produced. The subjects covered include hugs, Jacques Ranci√®re, and gift economy. The artists involved took various approaches in creating their files: Cyrus Smith asked ten different artists to share with him what they do to clear their mind, Zach Springer, Avalon Kalin and David Horvitz submitted examples of their previous projects that manifested as PDF’s. Many of the artists shared their libraries by scanning books and articles. Blair Fornwald created files on subjects like “Not Working” that include information on a variety of different things ranging from the Copenhagen Free University to Michel de Certeau. Public Document Files is as much a portrait of the artists who contributed to this project as it is a gauge of the current state of social practice as this way of working continues to be institutionalized and historicized.
PDF is in itself a socially engaged art project that is concerned with it’s own definition and it’s continued development. As a project that is a public resource focused on what is significant to artists who work with the social as a medium, I hope that it is able to address not only what is of interest to the artists, but also to the public they seek to engage through their work. The motivations behind social and public art practices are made as visible through this project as the art addressed in the files might be. The files also make evident things significant to this way of working that, while seemingly accessible in a day to day context, when framed as art can seem foreign: walking, hugs, green tea, potlucks, community gardens. Not only does this project highlight research and concerns, but also turns the offices and staff of Public Space One into a resource that is accessible to the public, opening up a new space as well as the potential to have their institution‚ which is primarily concerned with the interest of public and social art‚ become in itself the work they seek to promote.
-Jen Delos Reyes
Thank you PDF contributors:
Berit Noergaard
Hideous Beast
Brin Webster
Laurel Kurtz
Broken City Lab
Blair Fornwald
David Horvitz
Boseul Kim
Matthew David Rana
S.E.R.G
Robin Lambert
Ashley Neese
Lori Gordon
Piero Passacantando
Harrell Fletcher
Cyrus Smith
Avalon Kalin
Zach Springer
Andy Manoushagian
The M.O.S.T
DAMP
Katy Asher
Lisa Radford
Photo credit: Katie Hargrave