Monumentalities – public art and the culture of civic branding

VELLA John
2005 Conference

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Where public artworks once developed as a gradual cultural response to specific community histories, contemporary public art has evolved into a ‘must have’ civic accessory determined by a globally driven consensus.

This paper will examine contemporary public art in the context of civic / community branding and analyse the means, mechanisms and mentalities through which communities appropriate art to mediate and market their identities.

Critical to this analysis is an investigation of public art as a culture of contradiction.