Public Art: Theory, Practice and Populism (Paperback)

by Cher Krause Knight (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
“A broad account of public art in the United States, from its history and growth to its current meaning and purpose.” (Sculpture Magazine, March 2009)

“The thorough bibliography will greatly benefit public art professionals, artists, art historians, and laypersons. Providing a detailed, frank account of public art and viewer agency across the broadest spectrum, Public Art offers insight into works that might be beyond traditional conceptions. By bringing art that is often at the margins to the center, Knight offers fresh ideas on a subject ripe for further discussion. Recommended.” (Choice, November 2008)

“Cher Krause Knight … focuses on the notion of populist involvement as the yardstick by which to measure public art projects. She touches on well-known moments in the history of public art to illustrate the ways that the public has been variously excluded, humored, harangued, or genuinely integrated into projects. Most interesting are her musings on commercial sites, like Disney’s Magic Kingdom and Las Vegas casinos. In their admittedly pandering capacity for spectacle, she argues, such places include the public in ways that snooty art commissions don’t—whatever you say about their aesthetic values.” (Public Art Review, Fall 2008)

Review
"Cher Knight situates public art in a continuum of visual experience that includes museums, earthworks and Las Vegas. Embracing spectacle and popular engagement, she expands existing parameters to make public art both more provocative and more truly public."
–Dr. Harriet F. Senie, author of Contemporary Public Sculpture; The 'Tilted Arc’ Controversy; and co-editor of Critical Issues in Public Art

"In this remarkable book, Cher Knight has done a splendid job of synthesizing current thinking on public art rightly concluding that in the modern world it is the public who awards value."
–Dr. Sally Webster, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, Lehman College and the Graduate Center CUNY

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell (May 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405155590
• ISBN-13: 978-1405155595
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,689 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provacative and well-presented, May 31, 2009

By	Laura W. Sommer (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Knight provides a crucial study reevaluating the parameters and function of public art. In language that is accessible for a broad audience, she employs a methodological soundness and real insight. Knight, widely acknowledged for her studies on popular culture, situates art within the ubiquitous world of contemporary spectacle. Within the first pages, she introduces the complex framework that has risen around this subject. Rather than sidestep the slippery terrain that encompasses function, aesthetics, and reception, she advocates the critical involvement of the viewer as an essential component. In so doing, she navigates precarious territory by steering midcourse between the tastemakers and the cultural consumers. She qualifies with the following, "My populist perspective seeks balance between the hypercritical and uncritical nodes; to reorient our appreciation for artworks already absorbed into the canon, highlight the viewer's role, and suggest and expanded terrain for public art."
Her study proceeds after a useful review of American public art to examine different responses and modes of interaction, from Christo to Scott Burton, from Lightning Field to Disneyworld. Throughout, she constructs an invaluable network of viewpoints from the most significant theorists and critics of the past and present (John Beardsley, Malcolm Miles). With its compendium of relevant dialogues, its resistance of pretentiousness, and its critical consideration of the terms inherent to the medium, Knight's study is a compelling and vital resource for scholars and enthusiasts alike.

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth reading, June 12, 2009

By	L. Caruso (NJ, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed this book thoroughly and intend to make several personal "Art Pilgrimages" as a result!

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars disappointing, February 18, 2009

By	W. dennisuk "wjjd" (chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ms. Knight's `Public Art' is very disappointing. She sets out her agenda/bias in the preface, "I contend that art becomes most fully public when it has palpable populist sentiments - the extension of emotional and intellectual, as well as physical, accessibility to the audience - not a pretension toward such." She uses terms like "accessibility" (which is a loaded term) assuming there is some kind of shared understanding of the meaning. She goes on to slam art "elitists"; equating them with, "...centurions standing guard over and imposing their culture on others." She defines elitists as having a "need for professionalism...and standards of quality..."

Ms. Knight seems to be arguing for a T-ball mentality - everyone should play - when it comes to public art. I find it strange that the people who make a case for populism and accessibility in the arts would never apply the same criteria to own profession. Ms. Knight is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Emerson College. If a position were to come open in Ms. Knight's department, would it be elitist to ask that the applicants had an upper-level degree, teaching experience, that they actually studied art history, that they could even write? Would her department hire, or even consider a person who had none of those qualifications? I don't think so.

I think the book would have been better if Ms. Knight would have stuck to analyzing the public art scene and not try to impose her agenda on the subject.