Public Art Now Conversation 5: Theories of Public Art 

Panel
Dr Marnie Badham, RMIT University, Melbourne
Dr Eleonora Belifore, Loughborough University
Dr Elisa Caldarola, University of Padua
Chaired by: Dr Connell Vaughan, TU Dublin
Public art necessarily engages its frame insofar as it
immediately raises questions of space, place and
environment. This panel will consider questions of
aesthetics and value in the contemporary practice of
public art. It will approach these from a variety of
perspectives: philosophy, cultural democracy, and
the labour involved for practitioners and beholders
alike. Central to this discussion will be the difficulties
involved in defining and measuring public art given
the recent trends of ephemerality, interactivity and
so called “social engagement” in the practice of
public art. Accordingly, this panel will also consider
public art in light of the challenges of sustainability
and its political instrumentalisation.