| 1. |
- Arvidsson, Matilda, et al.
(författare)
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Just urban space : street art and spatial justice
- 2024
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Ingår i: Urban Creativity : Essays on interventions in public space - Essays on interventions in public space. - 9789188369925 ; , s. 21-40
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter presents the notion of spatial justice as a way of considering the relationship between law and street art in a manner beyond the legal/illegal dichotomy. Through a series of empirical examples, it is demonstrated how street art literally takes a place already taken and imposes itself in an already appropriated urban public space. Street art thus ´redefines the space in contestation to law. However, street art is ephemeral and its taking of space is not permanent. Street art points to an alternative spatial definition, one of spatial justice, before – and, indeed, while – withdrawing from the space it occupies. Street art creates a rupture in the lawscape which makes explicit the presence and claims of law, thereby also making the need for law’s other – justice – pronounced. The question of relationality between law and street art which we bring forth in the present article plays itself out as a production of space and spatial justice in an exchange of place-taking, withdrawal and pronunciation, law and street art. Spatial justice, as we perceive it here, is thus a way of thinking about law and street art not simply as polar opposites, but rather as co-dependent and bound together in an ongoing process of oscillation, mutual reinforcement and creativity.
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| 2. |
- Bengtsen, Peter, et al.
(författare)
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Street art and the nature of the city
- 2018
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Ingår i: Bild och natur. Tio konstvetenskapliga betraktelser. - 2001-7510 .- 2001-7529. - 9789198369045 ; 16, s. 125-138
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)
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| 3. |
- Alftberg, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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The Sci-Fi Brain: Narratives in Neuroscience and Popular Culture
- 2018
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Ingår i: Culture Unbound. Journal of Current Cultural Research. - : Linköpings universitet. - 2000-1525. ; 10:1, s. 11-30
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The connection between neuroscience, popular media and lay perceptions of the brain involves the framing of complex scientific processes and results through familiar cultural narratives and metaphors. Such narratives are often built on the premise that neuroscience, with the help of powerful new technologies, will finally solve the mysteries of brain and mind, consciousness and morality. At the same time, popular culture – especially the science fiction genre – tends to focus on worst case scenarios of the implementation of technology. This article explores cultural narratives of what the brain is and how it functions in two different contexts – among neuroscientists and within popular culture. In particular, narratives about technology and the malleable brain as well as the notion of the mad scientist are studied. The article explores how these narratives are presented and used in popular culture and how neuroscientists relate to the narratives when describing their work. There is a contrast, but also a blurring of boundaries, between actual research carried out and the fictional portrayals of scientists constructing, or altering, fully functional brains. This to some extent serves as a background for the public’s understanding of, and attitude towards, neuroscience – something that must be taken into consideration when dealing with the therapeutic treatment of patients. The narratives of neuroscience in popular culture are to some extent shaped by actual scientific practices and findings, but neuroscience is also influenced by laypeople’s perceptions, which often have their roots in the narratives of popular culture.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bengtsen, Peter
(författare)
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Agent of change : street art and environmental thinking
- 2016
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This paper applied an ecocritical perspective on street art to expand on the notion that street art can have an impact on how we relate to urban public space. In doing so, it argued that street art is particularly well positioned to affect the way we think and act with regard to the environment.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Bengtsen, Peter
(författare)
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Beyond the Public Art Machine : a Critical Examination of Street Art as Public Art
- 2013
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Ingår i: Konsthistorisk Tidskrift. - 0023-3609. ; 82:2, s. 63-80
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article examines street art as a specific type of public art. With Patricia C. Phillips’ idea of the failing “public art machine” as a point of departure, it contextualises the discussion of public art as a phenomenon that goes beyond sanctioned artistic expressions. The article examines the characteristics of street art and demonstrates that street art and public artworks have a number of traits in common. However, it is argued that street art’s unsanctioned nature functions as an essential carrier of meaning, and that a practical separation must be upheld between street art and the sphere of commissioned public art in order to preserve street art’s particular qualities. This argument finds support in the experiences derived from the practical inclusion of street art in other institutional contexts (galleries and museums), which arguably has led to a loss of meaning. However, while it is argued that street art must remain practically separate from the public art machine in order to retain its unsanctioned nature, the article contends that on a theoretical level it is fruitful to think of street art as a specific type of public art. Such a shift in discourse can open up the field of public art theory and provide new and interesting perspectives on public art as an art form which is not failing, but truly engages with the public.
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| 8. |
- Bengtsen, Peter
(författare)
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Bridging the islands of consciousness : on street art’s potential to affect our perception of public space
- 2013
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For the “Street Art, the City and the Public: Changing the Urban Vision” session at International Visual Sociology Association conference 2013, I discussed the unsanctioned nature of street art and the way it may influence our perception of public space. Taking as a point of departure George Simmel’s well-known thoughts on the blasé urban resident, I see public space as being dominated by individual routine actions. Thus, in our daily lives, we tend to use the city in a largely unthinking manner, routinely moving from A to B (e.g. from home to work) with minimal interaction with other people and with little regard for the spaces we pass through on our way. The sites which we move between constitute what I call “islands of consciousness”, that is to say sites where we are more fully present mentally and socially. (It should be noted that with the increased use of technology such as smartphones and tablets, even the existence of sites where we are at once physically and mentally present can be brought into question). In my presentation, I argued that street art, in virtue of its unsanctioned and ephemeral nature, has the potential to bridge these islands of consciousness and create a new awareness of the spaces that lie in between. Unlike sanctioned public art, the perceived unsanctioned nature of street art can potentially turn the everyday environment into a site of exploration. The knowledge that an encountered artistic expression is not supposed to be where we find it, and that it could be removed or replaced by something new at any moment, puts into focus the urgency of the here-and-now existence of the individual in a particular space. Also, in virtue of their very existence, unsanctioned street artworks point to the possibility of interaction with – and also question the order of – public space. By triggering the imagination and instilling in the interested viewer a feeling of urgency, exploration and independent agency, street art’s unsanctioned nature may thus significantly influence both the interpretation of the actual artwork and our sense of public space. It could even be argued that the increased awareness and sense of agency constitute parts of the foundation on which a critical public is built.
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| 9. |
- Bengtsen, Peter
(författare)
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Carelessness or Curatorial Chutzpah? Controversies Surrounding Street Art in the Museum
- 2015
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Ingår i: Konsthistorisk Tidskrift. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0023-3609. ; 84:4, s. 220-233
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Taking the exhibition "Art in the Streets", which was shown at The Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles from 17 April to 8 August, 2011, as its main point of departure, the present article discusses street art's association with the institutions of the art world. "Art in the Streets" sparked a lot of debate before, while and after it took place. The article primarily focuses on two aspects of the controversies connected with the exhibition. First, it looks at the reaction of conservative American commentators, who saw "Art in the Streets" as problematic because of its apparent validation of vandalism as art. The article argues that this critical response should be understood not just as the result of pre-existing animosity towards graffiti and street art, but also as an expression of a particular idea about the role museums play in society. Second, the article considers the reaction to "Art in the Streets" of street art aficionados, who saw the museum's representation of street based artistic expressions as problematic. The criticism from within the street art world was fuelled by the removal of a commissioned artwork by the Italian artist BLU from the façade of the museum building prior to the opening of the exhibition. On the one hand, it is argued that this curatorial decision can be seen as symptomatic of the show's failure to integrate a non-institutional form of expression in an institutional context. On the other hand, it is argued that the removal can be related to the whitewashing process which takes place in the street every day, thus effectively reproducing in the institutional environment the conditions under which street art is produced. With an outset in a number of artistic responses to Art in the Streets, the article is concluded by a more overarching discussion about street art's relationship with the institutional art world. Here it is argued that the relevance and perceived authenticity of street art is challenged by the interest from excluding and conservational art institutions, which street art to some extent exists in opposition to. Given the unsanctioned nature of street art, as well as street art's connection to the street, it is further argued that while institutions can create shows that document and discuss the history of art in the street, and can show artworks derived from this context, street art proper cannot exist in an institutional context.
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| 10. |
- Bengtsen, Peter
(författare)
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Carelessness or Curatorial Chutzpah? : Controversies Surrounding Street Art in the Museum
- 2012
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- My paper discussed two controversies surrounding the exhibition Art in the Streets, which was shown at the MOCA in Los Angeles April 17th - August 8th 2011. One focal point was the reaction of conservative American commentators to the exhibition in general; another the reactions of agents within the street art world to the removal of one specific artwork. Contrary to the session chairs’ suggestion that there is a tendency for art museums to “avoid contentious topics”, MOCA actively decided to bring non-institutional art into the museum, creating a show of what the curators deemed the most prolific graffiti writers and street artists from the 1960s onward. The show did not sit well with American conservative commentators. For instance, contributing editor of City Journal Heather Mac Donald called it a “shallow, abominably irresponsible show” which “assiduously ignores the moral and civic issues raised by any glorification of graffiti”. There is an interesting debate on the role of the museum here: On the one hand, it could be seen as reprehensible for museums (as socially responsible institutions) to sanction as art what is commonly perceived as vandalism. On the other hand, it could be argued that MOCA is living up to its role as a museum by engaging with the public and problematising our commonsense understanding of art and society through a conscious use of controversy. Apart from conservative criticism of the show, the removal of an artwork by the Italian artist BLU also sparked debate within the street art world itself. The removal has been seen as a failure to bring a non-institutional art form into the institutional confines of the museum. However, it could be argued that the controversy provided the mural, the artist and Art in the Streets with more attention among a core audience of street art aficionados than might otherwise have been forthcoming. BLU is well-known for his political murals, and it is hard to believe that the curators were unaware of this when they assigned a high-profile outer wall to him. It is unlikely that the mural controversy was a conscious construction used as a means to increase attention for Art in the Streets. However, the fact remains that it did raise the profile of the show within the street art world, and that it here sparked a debate on institutionalisation, gentrification, commercialisation and the very nature of street art, which in itself can be seen as one of the most significant outcomes of the exhibition.
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