The notion of “public space” in western discourse is often inspired by philosopher Jürgen Habermas’ concept of the “public sphere,” where agreement on matters of common interest becomes possible through setting aside differences of status or rank and engaging in discussion among peers. Yet exclusions and the promised benefits for those who can access the public sphere (in western society typically as white citizens with property) have generated long-standing inequities and division. As we have discussed in UHI, one’s relationship to the public is contingent upon racialized hierarchies enshrined within and across spaces at local, regional, and national scales. 

This course looks at contending struggles to undo and reconstitute the public in urban spaces through art intervention. Looking at examples in Los Angeles and Tijuana, we trace the ways in which various forms of collective political action recreate public spaces. From murals, graffiti, to digital media, music, and events, students will be exposed to interdisciplinary methods to analyze the built environments and how people move, work, eat, learn, listen and express themselves in these environments, in particular when people challenge meanings of public and create new ones. Sites of interest may also include sidewalks, streets, and alleyways, museums, trains, border crossings, eateries, and plazas. In these various settings, students will critically consider how art upholds or contests a given public. How does art reveal or contest who is assumed to be included in the public sphere? By contrast, how does art reinforce dominant notions of the public? How do new urban practices and artistic interventions affect configurations of gender, race, and the representation of violence? How is precarity reproduced and aestheticized? We will examine these questions through readings and investigation of selected cases both in Los Angeles and Tijuana.

Through readings, lectures, and hands-on practice, students will be introduced to a) examples of socially engaged art interventions and their different forms in Los Angeles and Tijuana; b) methodological connections between public art, architecture, and planning c) how to evaluate public art according to a spatial justice ethics; and d) how to develop engaged public art interventions grounded in creative people power.