The Unhappy Public of Public Art

Tuesday 7 April 2020
1–2pm

Online: Zoom

The Unhappy Public of Public Art: An Online Talk With Amy Spiers

There is often a largely unquestioned assumption in public art that generating good feelings is measurable proof that a project was successful. If the audience has been made happy, then the project is often assessed as good. If the public are content after participating in an art project, then it is deemed that the work has engaged them in the right way. In this lecture I wish to problematise these assumptions and argue for the protesting, critically agitated and troubled public of public art.

Dr Amy Spiers is an artist, writer and researcher living on the unceded lands of the Kulin nation in so-called Melbourne, Australia. Her socially-engaged, critical art practice focuses on the creation of live performances, participatory situations and multi-artform installations for both site-specific and gallery contexts. Her work aims to prompt questions and debate about the present social order — particularly about the gaps and silences in public discourse where difficult histories and social issues are not confronted. Spiers has presented art projects across Australia and internationally, including at Monash University Museum of Art (Melbourne), the Museum für Neue Kunst (Freiburg), MONA FOMA festival (Hobart) and the 2015 Vienna Biennale.

As a writer and researcher, Amy has published texts widely, including for the Museum of Contemporary Art, Auckland Art Gallery, Journal of Arts and Communities and Open Engagement. Spiers completed a Master of Fine Art in 2011 and a PhD in 2018 at the Victorian College of the Arts.

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Image: Amy Spiers, Miranda Must Go (2017)