CFP: Architecture and Public Art, 1975 - Present -- Thematic Issue of Arts
United States
CFP for a thematic issue of Arts that invites contributions that consider how architects and public artists negotiated concerns and spaces from 1975 to the present day. This special issue will track these sometimes seamless, sometimes begrudging, and sometimes hostile engagements when architects and public artists jointly developed works, sites, and city plans.
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2023
Guest Editor: Andrew Wasserman, American University
Readers paging through issues of Architectural Record
in the 1980s might have noticed that the editors seemed to have strong
opinions about the relationship between architecture and public art.
Beyond editorial musings on the two fields, announcements of recently
approved and completed commissions, and photographic spreads
highlighting projects blurring distinctions between sculpture and
architecture, the periodical included Charles Saxon’s cartoons. Along
with his illustrations taking jabs at the overplanting of foliage-filled
atrium spaces, the popularity of golf course communities, and
Postmodernist icons, such as Michael Graves’ Portland Building (1982)
and Philip Johnson and John Burgee’s AT&T Building (1984), Saxon’s
cartoons offered commentary on public artworks. They tapped into the
conversations, collaborations, and contestations occurring between
architects and public artists, interactions managed by project
commissioning agents and eventually navigated by urban and suburban
audiences. Readers recognized these drawings as encoding concerns about
the use, form, and interpretation of public spaces, and they asked whose
works would fill these spaces.
This Special Issue of Arts
invites contributions that consider how architects and public artists
negotiated these concerns and spaces from 1975 to the present day. This
Special Issue will track these sometimes seamless, sometimes begrudging,
and sometimes hostile engagements when architects and public artists
jointly developed works, sites, and city plans. Where and when do the
practices and concerns of architecture and public art come together? How
have architects encouraged artists to design plaza sculptures, indoor
and outdoor furniture pieces, or functional interior design elements?
How have artists modified their own practices to respond to
architectural interests informed by parametric scripting or pursuits of
green building certifications? What influence have new funding sources
and zoning incentives had on the alignment of the fields of architecture
and public art? Contributions may take the form of scholarly analyses
of historical moments, geographic circumstances, and stylistic
traditions, as well as interviews and other creative formats.
Manuscript Submission Information
Information about manuscript submission can be found: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts/special_issues/architecture_public_art
All article submissions for this Special Issue of Arts will be processed free of charge.
All
submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will
be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will
be listed together on the special issue website. Submitted manuscripts
should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration
for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All
manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review
process.