ORF-E
German
1 x 45 min
Worldwide

When artists place their work in public space, they leave the protected grounds of galleries and museums. They expose themselves to the criticism of the public. This often leads to heated controversy and not rarely to open rejection. In this way, however, they succeed in directly confronting the public with critical positions, unconventional views, and previously unknown design possibilities. In this documentary, director Martin Vogg visits artists and talks to them about their projects in public space. Above all, however, it is the users of the public space, the residents and passers-by, who have their say. They are the ones who are confronted with the specially created artwork in the long term. The question is explored to what extent artists involve these people in the design, who are, after all, the audience of the piece, or to what extent they try to push through their artistic concept even in the face of resistance. At the same time, the director poses the question of why it is primarily communities in the countryside, public agencies or developers who decide in favor of art in public space. Is this because decision-makers are genuinely concerned about confronting people with contemporary art, or do they want pure “beautification”? Is it a matter of mere decoration, which should not only consist of troughs with flowers, or does it really stem from the fact that art projects are funded by cultural budgets?