K I remember researching one of Suzanne Lacy’s works – Ablutions (1972)… That work does remind me of Carolee Schneemann’s “Meat Joy” (1964), both artists use naked female bodies and dead animals. One thing I found interesting in the article is what she said about museums – that she does not find museums as an effective place to support activism. She goes on to say in the book “Mapping the Terrain” that now “the modernist model is no longer viable”(184) as the art schools and museums created division between practice and public locus. This sort of reminds me of Guerilla Girls’ works, the majority of which originally were shown in public to everyone, and then finished in museums, like her works. The difference is that Lacy’s works are not passive, they engage the public, and thus the titular “Public Art’.
O Yes what stood out to me about Suzanne Lacy’s works was how interactive it was and the very clear messages behind them. Ablutions convey these psychological states and feelings and create very intimate and disturbing environments. I think the use of dead animals is vital to showing an audience how disgusting and terrible the stories played in the background are while the nudity visually highlights the vulnerability. I love how you brought up this idea of public art’s place within museums and the Guerilla Girls. I found Lacy’s ideas on museum works a bit convoluted because she states that it also has a significant role in dictating cultural “attitudes.” Another piece that stood out to me (I really love this one a lot and attached the video at the bottom) was The Roof Is on Fire (1993–94.), and how Lacy says she works with issues that are, “aspirational . . . rather than confrontational”(11). She uses these larger themes of unity and giving teenagers a voice for an issue as a way to explore what a better future may be like, rather than directly contradict a set of widely accepted beliefs. The viewers were able to walk around this performance and learn about the very real issues within the community while also the actors having these authentic conversations were gaining new perspectives based on where their natural conversations were taking them. Giving a voice through this exhibition to teenagers who had a yearning to show that they aren’t the causes of these larger societal issues adds to how real it was. I see this art as very confrontational despite what she stated about her work being less confrontational and more aspirational (https://vimeo.com/39865636). Is the video of this online. Is there a way to be aspirational in public art about an issue without being confrontational? How can you see this within her other pieces?
K Her work “The Yellow Line” (2018) in which residents in Ireland from both sides of the border have participated in “playful construction of unique actions” and is as Lacy herself says “opportunity to explore the Border without entering into Brexit politics”. In the light of recent news of violence in Northern Ireland after Brexit, and considering the historical war between IRA and British forces, the work is aspirational, hopeful yet does not confront the issue openly. I do not know if that is inherently a good thing or not, to not be confrontational, perhaps confrontational attitude helps to spotlight the issue? It’s a subject that is touched upon in the book “Mapping the Terrain”. She ponders on how we measure effectiveness since public art does not adhere to the traditional goal of being beautiful or being revelatory or transcendent. She mentions that “a sociologist might measure the number of times within a given period that an issue was referred to in the media, in art we guess at the distribution of ideas.” (183) There is a question she asks in this text that I think is worth pondering on “Does shape, eloquence, or visual appeal take precedence over the work’s accessibility to community residents?” (183) What are your thoughts?
O I think that beauty and the accessibility of public art do go hand in hand to a point because art which conveys a strong message is beautiful in itself. These messages are shown in Lacy’s projects like, “The Yellow Line” which has been made with the purpose of people digesting and understanding Brexit and divides in general. She uses the yellow as a motif but also as an aesthetically pleasing piece of her larger work. That said, if the art cannot be seen by the target audience, then that needs to be addressed more than the visual appeal. Yellow is an intermediary color, not representational of a political party, yet still one of the most eye-catching colors. I also found her ideas of the viewer becoming a participant when watching the yellow line to stand out, and I wonder when you draw the line between participant and viewer because there is essentially a participation in many artworks that a viewer will always have, whether it be a painting or a public exhibition.