Art Event- Public Art, Community, Politics

There were three professors guiding this lecture- Lisa Scheer, Billy Friebele, Katie Gantz, and someone from the poli sci department who's name I did not catch. The lecture dealt with using space in artisitc and political expressions. The two that intrigued me the most were of Billy and Katie. Billy's dealt with defining the physical space in the District of Columbia and how the residents of that area defined their locations and their space; stressing DC as an organic being. His project was/is a very interactive project where people from specific areas in DC will photograph something in that space that more or less defines it, and submit their photographs to be added over layers of other photographs that make up the physical space on a map. I just thought it was very intriguing how people defined these spaces as their own and not in relation to whatever is thought to be known about the area. For example, to an outsider wandering around the national mall, they might be quick to identify the museums and/or monuments. However, to someone from the area, they might be more inclined to submit something completely different, like images of all the tourists posing in front of the camera appearing to be touching the tip of the monument--hilarious to see people do this, by the way.

Katie Gantz's contribution to this lecture was as equally interesting. Her talk was about the remodeled city of Paris from what it was in the 18th century and before, to what it has become since the 19th century. She started by pointing out the wide streets of Paris and how they outline the importance of the grand monuments that are seen at each end of the main streets. She mentioned how this model of the city, when it was new at the time, was to put an emphasis on their amazing art and architecture. However, the latest art movement in Paris seems to be tagging and street art, specifically through large stickers such as postage labels. It was pretty great being able to make that connection with taggers here in the states that picked up that same method. She basically explained how the seemingly vandalizing acts are an art form in the contemporary Parisian art culture. She mentioned how these street artists will apply the stickers even on the most famous of architectures that are found all over the city. I thought it was specifically interesting when she called specific tags a 'treasure' to find. Seeing as how some street artists go above and beyond to display their work in the most intricate ways as possible, there are specific tags that are thought of as rare and become a pleasant surprise to be able to come across one of these treasures.