Being Public: How Art Creates the Public (Making Public)

Being Public is an anthology of essays investigating, from different perspectives, the notion of the public.

“Public” is a huge concept in current debates on culture, yet the notion itself remains largely unexamined and unexplored, particularly as it applies to culture and the arts. The meanings of both “art publics” and “public space” have become complex at a time when boundaries between public and private are shifting, and “the public” actually comprises different groups of changing composition and identity.

What does it mean to be public today? And what is the role of art in constituting both “public space” as well as “a public”? Taking these questions as a starting point, this book, part of the new Making Public series, aims to create a better understanding of the relationships between art and the notion of the public.