Public Sphere – Public Space

The Media

Traced journey from artists using different materials as their medium towards artists using the media as their material.

One way of thinking of the media is as a public sphere. The classic concept of this comes from Habermas, he says,

public sphere is "a discursive arena that is home to citizen debate, deliberation, agreement and action (Villa 712)."

Discourse becomes democratic through the "non-coercively unifying, consensus building force of a discourse in which participants overcome their at first subjectively biased views in favor of a rationally motivated agreement (Public Discourse 315)

Habermas’s democratic discourse

1. Every subject with the competence to speak and act is allowed to take part in a discourse.

2a. Everyone is allowed to question any assertion whatever.

2b. Everyone is allowed to introduce any assertion whatever into the discourse.

2c. Everyone is allowed to express his attitudes, desires and needs.

3. No speaker may be prevented, by internal or external coercion, from exercising his rights as laid down in (1) and (2). ("Diskursethik," 86)

Artists

The artists we have looked at present a critical position on this idealised form

They would argue that the media is undemocratic because it is owned by those in power and acts coercively and does not allow any rational debate.

That’s why tactical media etc.

Public Sphere = Public Space

Historically this public speech has taken place in public spaces.

agora (ăg'ərə) [Gr.,=market], in ancient Greece, the public square or marketplace of a city. In early Greek history the agora was primarily used as a place for public assembly; later it functioned mainly as a centre of commerce. Usually in a readily accessible part of the city, it was often surrounded by the public buildings, such as the royal palace, the law courts, the assembly house, and the jail. A favourite architectural device was the colonnade surrounding the agora. One of the highest honours was to be granted a tomb in the agora. The agora was similar to the Roman forum.

Artistic Tactics

1 Promoting interaction to the fearless confrontation and contact with strangers

2 Promoting formation of public sphere by criticism, discussion, reflection on the society

3 Promotion of the social interaction and integration in the local neighbourhood

4 Perception of the current development by technology reflecting, sensual system experiences

5 Activation to the conscious participation in the creation of the public space

- Mirjam Struppek - Interactionfield

Forms

Interactive InstallationsPublic ProjectionsPublic Sound-RecordingsLight and Sound-Triggering InstallationsInteractive Facades and Shop windowsPublic Communication-SculpturesPublic Message boardsSpace AnnotationsWIFI ArtPsychogeographic PerformancesInternet-focussed ProjectsLocation-Based Mobile GamingOutdoor Mixed-reality Games

Relational Art

“An art taking as it theoretical horizon the realm of human interactions and its social context, rather than the assertion of an independent and private symbolic space”

Nicolas Bourriaud

Links to projects

http://culturebase.org/home/struppek/HomepageEnglisch/Projektliste.htm

http://www.urbanscreens.org/