If public space is the primary place for education in the arts and culture, it is also the scene of protests. From the outset, Julie Bawin observes a permanence in the arguments which serve the waves of protest: “The most obvious is the question of citizens’ right to review a work financed by public funds, perceived as a common good that must attract the support of the greatest number.” This idea was formed at the end of the 19th century with the scandal of The Dance by Carpeaux which pits the supporters of modernity against the defenders of academic sculpture. She continues: “Whether it is Carpeaux, Lambeaux described as a pornographic artist with his Bitten wildlifeor Paul McCarthy and his “anal plug” on Place Vendôme in 2014, the argument of an attack on sexual and religious morality constantly comes up, even if aesthetics have evolved.” Asked about the factors which further exacerbate these controversies, Julie Bawin points out in particular the absence of mediation of these works of art, often put out to pasture without a reading key: “These creations, deprived of explanatory devices, are aimed at involuntary and uninitiated spectators, which explains why controversies are much more numerous in the public space than in museums where the works retain their sacred element.”
gullIf few works are truly vandalized, it is perhaps due to the nature of the Belgian, more accustomed to compromise and to being accepting (including more corrosive humor).”
A tumultuous relationship
In order to encourage public support, would it not be appropriate to carry out more popular consultations before an installation? A nuanced response from the author who warns: “In the case of public art, this is not desirable. This obsession with consensus would lead us to install sterile, conventional works, which do not reflect current art.”
Another factor to take into account: the important role played by social networks, acting as a sounding board amplifying all controversies with incredible power… Julie Bawin confirms: “Social networks today represent an extremely formidable space for popular pressure. We also observe that sponsors and artists, well aware of this horizontal censorship, will sometimes deprogram or modify their works for fear of being lynched on the Besides, all the recent affairs – McCarthy and Kapoor in the lead – cannot be understood without social networks, which constitute the new Vox populi. Debates which relate, in the aforementioned cases, to aesthetic questions, very different from those which animate Belgium. Indeed, in our country, debates mainly focus on questions linked to colonialism. “These are conflicting works for many years that the Black Lives Matter movement has come to revive. If few works are truly vandalized, it is perhaps due to the nature of the Belgian, more accustomed to compromise and to being in acceptance (including more corrosive humor if McCarthy’s work). (“the “anal plug” mentioned above, Editor’s note) had been presented on the Grand’Place, it would undoubtedly have caused a scandal but I think that we would not have reached the point of destruction of the work and physical attack on the artist as happened in Paris.”
Robin Wen, emotion at the end of the blue bic pen
The only certainty: Julie Bawin has written a fascinating work which constantly reminds us that the history of public art is intimately linked to the history of controversies. An observation which invites us to reflect on the place of art in public space and on the means of promoting better understanding between artists and the general public. A compilation of cases that keep us in suspense…
CV Express – Doctor in art history, Julie Bawin is a professor at Ulg and director of the Sart Tilman open-air contemporary art museum. Specializing in the study of exhibition curating, she dedicates her current work to the history of curating, public art and the musealization of performance art.
- (favorite) Julie Bawin, Public art and controversies. 19th-21st century, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2024, 371 pp., €26
