
Introduction to Public Sense
By Kara Q. SmithCentering this line of inquiry in just one broadly defined field of practice is a way of breaking it open.
More »Can art help communities redefine social economies, or create meaningful exchanges between disparate groups? This issue of Art Practical is looking for overlaps and disconnects with politically engaged object-making practices, social practice and its pedagogy, and public-facing and audience-engaging practices. We are asserting that something new is needed to establish and make legible practices that may be overlooked by not being executed with pedagogical underpinnings or institutional support, as well as recognizing that many categorical visual-art practices intersect with engagement/action in very meaningful ways—and have for a long time.
We’ve decided to dedicate six months to this endeavor and will be publishing new content each month on a rolling basis, giving the issue the opportunity to be flexible, responsive, and experimental. Newly commissioned essays will reflect on and probe the pedagogy and commercial market for public practices, will bring forth under-recognized practitioners, will look to institutional platforms that support socially engaged projects, and will bring to light new perspectives we have yet to know. On our AP Audio channel, we will be releasing a series of recorded conversations about artistic practice, place, and publics that confront socio-political concerns, participation, and social histories. AP Programs will include events and partnerships that extend the conversation of the issue into public spaces, including through our Wikipedia edit-a-thon series. We are also including some previously-published essays in the issue in order to situate new conversations within a broader and ongoing dialogue of what we are calling “public practice” to create space to contend with an evolving field and methodology for art making and engagement. Everything related to the issue will be published here, so check back every month for more content.
Centering this line of inquiry in just one broadly defined field of practice is a way of breaking it open.
More »Death never makes sense, but it seems like a particularly strange time to lose Ted.
More »Rethinking social practice as a social praxis can provide tools to surmount the challenges of a politically, socially, spiritually, and environmentally unsustainable future.
More »The first episode in a series of conversations around publics, site, and artistic production.
More »How can artists and curators relay collective and relational experiences so as to stay true to their original project, while also engaging the audience visually and discursively?
More »Two projects in the Southeast stand out for the rigor and honesty of their encounters with their communities.
More »"I’m committed to having spaces to think about the conditions Black people and people of color are living in and what might produce our freedom—spaces for communion, dancing, good music—all the conversational prerequisites for creativity."
More »Arte Útil designates an art that overcomes the aesthetic role posited by modernism, and operates as a tool for social, political, and cultural change.
More »If this moment is going to stick, it will require not just a movement in the arts, but much more social upheaval.
More »Sometimes you are in opposition and think you have no voice, but you are still a part of it and you're paying into it.
More »Brett Cook and Weston Teruya talk about creating skillful outcomes, bringing people into relationship with one another, and creating a culture of assessment and reflection.
More »The project as a whole breaks ground more in the expression and transmission of the ideas than in their collection.
More »Notes from MoAD is dedicated to the Museum of the African Diaspora’s Emerging Artist Program, giving the exhibiting artists an opportunity to discuss their featured exhibition at MoAD and how their art practice is in dialogue with contemporary art as it considers themes of the African diaspora.
Art Practical presents Process Practice Progress, a programming series focused on artists, administrators, writers, and cultural leaders determined to decolonize institutional spaces ranging from museums and neighborhoods to published pages. Each event strives for generative dialogue based in actionable solutions and sustainable practices. How do we reshape institutional spaces to accurately reflect the missions of diversity and inclusion they offer? How do we make diversity and inclusion efforts comprehensive and truly equitable?
Between You and Me is a series of dialogic exchanges between artists and their collaborators and peers to materialize the countless conversations, musings, and debates that are often invisible, yet play a significant role in the generative space of art-making.
This column is funded by the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, a private family foundation dedicated to enhancing quality of life by championing and sustaining the arts, promoting early childhood literacy, and supporting research to cure chronic disease.