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51
work about public sphere issues. In order to engage with contemporary debates
like the war in Iraq, artists had to construct comfortable environments were
visitors would feel their participation would be respected.
While Deller’s project dealt with an overarching issue that was inherently
political, the overt nature of the theme was softened by the project’s “post-activist”
positioning. “It’s not the territory of art to provoke social change,”
Endress stated in reference to his own work. It is the artist’s “territory to provoke
thinking - it is the job of the people to create change.”91 While Deller’s neutral
and post-activist positioning was confusing for some visitors, he was otherwise
successful in providing a comfortable platform in which any and all perspectives
were welcome. He felt remaining neutral would allow for more open exchange.
It was neither his desire nor his responsibility to have an anti-war stance, although
some of his critics would have preferred it that way. The piece’s political
ambiguity seemed to mislead some viewers, whose disagreements were
documented. But as Deller reminds us, the U.S. is a country perhaps too well
versed in taking sides and it would do us some good to evaluate the information at
hand rather than the opposing arguments.
When looking at Deller’s “post-activist” term within the art historical
context of social practice- it directly references developments within this
movement, but Deller has yet to stake a claim within this art historical territory.
Most of the road site participants were unaware of post-activism’s evolution out
91 Ibid., 161.
Object Description
| Title | Sites of production: An examination of Jeremy Deller's It is what it is: Conversations about Iraq |
| Author | Kopp, Rebecca Nichole |
| Author email | rkopp@usc.edu; rnkopp@gmail.com |
| Degree | Master of Public Art Studies |
| Document type | Thesis |
| Degree program | Public Art Studies |
| School | School of Fine Arts |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-05 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-04 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Holte, Michael Ned |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Jacob, Mary Jane Decter, Joshua |
| Abstract | For little over a decade artistic practice in the United States has become intently “focused upon on the sphere of inter-human relations” (Nicolas Bourriaud). Contemporary theorists have presented a variety of ideas concerning the resurgence of this artistic tendency that emerged half a century ago. Using It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, which was presented across the U.S. and at three major museums in 2009 by British Turner prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, as case study to further delineate this artistic form of expression, this thesis addresses recent theoretical developments within the broader social practice movement. Deller’s project emphasized the complicated nature of these theories in action within the contemporary moment, and testified to its heightened use in the public sphere through shifts higher education and institutional programming. The evaluation of Deller’s piece emphasizes the art-historical importance of this work and more broadly contends with the contemporary conflict between those who debate art’s ability to transform consciousness within the public sphere. |
| Keyword | social practice; Jeremy Deller; Iraq; dialogical practice; public sphere; public art |
| Geographic subject (country) | Iraq; USA |
| Coverage date | 2000/2010 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3881 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Kopp, Rebecca Nichole |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Kopp-4545 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Kopp-4545.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 56 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 51 work about public sphere issues. In order to engage with contemporary debates like the war in Iraq, artists had to construct comfortable environments were visitors would feel their participation would be respected. While Deller’s project dealt with an overarching issue that was inherently political, the overt nature of the theme was softened by the project’s “post-activist” positioning. “It’s not the territory of art to provoke social change,” Endress stated in reference to his own work. It is the artist’s “territory to provoke thinking - it is the job of the people to create change.”91 While Deller’s neutral and post-activist positioning was confusing for some visitors, he was otherwise successful in providing a comfortable platform in which any and all perspectives were welcome. He felt remaining neutral would allow for more open exchange. It was neither his desire nor his responsibility to have an anti-war stance, although some of his critics would have preferred it that way. The piece’s political ambiguity seemed to mislead some viewers, whose disagreements were documented. But as Deller reminds us, the U.S. is a country perhaps too well versed in taking sides and it would do us some good to evaluate the information at hand rather than the opposing arguments. When looking at Deller’s “post-activist” term within the art historical context of social practice- it directly references developments within this movement, but Deller has yet to stake a claim within this art historical territory. Most of the road site participants were unaware of post-activism’s evolution out 91 Ibid., 161. |
