Martin Zebraki's Beyond Public Art

Martin Zebracki’s article Beyond Public Artopia: Public art as perceived by its publics, discusses public art and how the people who pass by it interact with it. This type of art can serve as a way to reinvigorate urban development, and Zebracki examines the perception of the public with reference to several specific public art installments. Public art integrates the location into the art and allows the piece to become a part of the city. Barcelona is a city where public art has become an integral part of the cities culture. Zebraki’s study was an innovative way to explore the impact of public art on members of the public, and to discover how public art has impacted the people. Moments of freedom and Carmela, are two pieces of public art that …show more content…
One of the studies in Beyond Public Artopia indicated that the public’s perceived attractiveness was somewhat based on the works narrative power and its ability to convey a deeper meaning as a piece of art. Moments of Freedom is a piece that revolves entirely around the involvement of the public and their familiarity with certain images. The themes of intimacy, family, and nationality are repeated throughout and are all easily understood and felt by the public. The ability to relate to a work od art creates a profound and personal sense of appreciation for the public work. With regard to Moments of Freedom, people are able to see the power of a narrative and they are able to feel connected to at least some of the many stories. By incorporating the a wide variety of photos from a diverse group of people, Fontcuberta was able to create a work of art that has the potential to impact every …show more content…
The Zebracki et al. study indicated that the public was often unable to form opinions about engaging works of art, and “It is an understatement to say that the publics did not decide on a critical and evocative attitude to public art”. He claims that the public expressed their opinions in platitudes or clichés. His argument, while valid, lacks total relevance and it also seems to be a harsh critique of the public. Both Moments of freedom and Carmela seem to have similar social impacts, and their creators appear to have created works of art that are easily accessible for the public. Both works seem to interrupt the continuity of the normal cityscape, and provide an interesting change of scenery. The publics’ overall perception of the work is dependent on Zebracki’s three main attributes, appropriateness, sociableness, and meaningfulness. How suitable is the piece to its environment? How likely are people to meet at the site of the artwork? Does the work evoke interesting thoughts or memories? Moments of freedom has an obvious message of freedom to all. However there are thousands of smaller more subliminal interpretations that are left up to the individual. Each person is going to have different associations for different tiles, creating a unique effect for the entire photomontage. One of Zebracki’s main attributes, meaningfulness can