Art or Architecture on the Street?

Reading the Roots of Public Art Through the International Situationist Lenses

Resumen

During the 1960s, a wave of avant-garde art movements emerged, pushing the limits of convention. The worlds of architecture and art started to blend, with artists transforming public spaces into the sites of exhibition and the very medium of their creations. A closer look at these movements may uncover some unapparent connections to the broader political dialogue of the post-war period, especially concerning groups such as the Situationists. The primary aim of this article is to explore the links between the postwar socio-political movements and the evolution of street art forms from the 60s to the present. This exploration revolves around crucial terms such as ‘dérive,’ ‘détournement,’ and ‘constructed situations,’ which are situationist artistic and socio-political concepts. Despite the absence of a direct historical link, these concepts share a discursive unity with post-war artistic events, indicating that contemporary art seeks to assume a more substantial socio-political role, without a distinct political stance. The article examines the work of pioneering artists like Christo, Arman, and Villeglé, who brought art into public spaces. Their work exemplifies how ‘public art’ emerged from the intersection of formalist approaches and the concepts of the Situationists. Notably, the investigation suggests a more nuanced relationship between using space as an artistic material and situationist theory than previously recognized. This article aims to expose the underlying psychological-political layers of modern and contemporary art, particularly emphasizing public art happenings and festivals like the 21st-century Nuit Blanche Parisienne and lately the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024. By analyzing the early works of the artists discussed in this article, we conduct a ‘comparative analysis’ of their characteristics with the texts and manifestos of the Situationists on urban life and cities and investigate the similarities. This process extends to recent public art events that serve as urban interventions in the city, approaching ‘architecture’ as what was presumed by the Situationists.