Professor Dew Harrison

  Associate Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies University of Wolverhampton, School of Art and Design

Title of presentation :The Artist in the City

The rise of digital media, new communication technologies, pervasive and locative media has expanded artistic practice beyond the studio and out into the urban environment.  This paper determines two distinct forms of urban art practice, one where the artists involved play between and around the static monolithic solid structures of existing city centres, using buildings as backdrops for their projections and graffiti, or as stage sets where activities happen. The work of the Graffiti Research Lab and Blast Theory are exampled as understanding art as intervention and gameplay, while artists such as Rafael Lozano-Hemmer creative convivial spaces in the city where the visitor becomes a participant in making art happen. This form of relational practice is also evident in the architectural systems of Usman Haque and in interactive architecture generally.  The second approach is where artists impact upon the city environment through a socially engaged practice facilitating dialogic spaces for real-world communication between urban life and the architects of regeneration, before the city is evolved into its new build state. At the University of Wolverhampton, the Black Country Creative Advantage project is bringing artists into the post-industrial suburban town of West Bromwich to work between the local community and regeneration stakeholders. Through various means including artist residencies, a symposium and conference, the project is investigating the partnership of governance on urban development and its related cultural production. The intention is to support a more democratic involvement of local people in the culture, public planning and developments taking place where they live.