"The Four Stages of Public Art" Summary

The Four Stages of Public Art is an explanation of the four stages of public art. These four stages are based on Roy Bhaskar’s formulation of a four stage dialectic. This four stage dialectic refers to the practice of arriving to the truth by a trade of logical arguments. This stages coincide with following the transformations in the possibilities of public art and historical events (stages) . The essay talks about the different possibilities of public art, and of all types of public art in different locations which encourage viewers to respond and connect in different ways. The first stage is non unity. Bhaskar starts his argument with stating that “things are not what they are not” which is how he begins any argument that deals with transformations. For example , when public are is put somewhere in a public space that piece beings to change. That is what makes the non unity of the piece; it is that it is not the same as the art from the past. The second stage is negation. This stage makes a connection between the makings of art the impact that the art has on the viewer. This stage is the where the relationship between subject and object becomes visible. This is the realization that the public art is changing the impact on the viewer to something other than it would have been with the art. Artists know that the piece is not disconnected from the public and that then changes their art process depending on how they want the public to view and understand the piece. Totality is the third stage and it refers to the mutual relationship between stages one and two. In the instance of public art, this means that there is a connect between the intent of the artist and the meaning of the viewers. The last stage is the practice of transformation (self transformation). In public art this means that there are possibilities of transformation of what public art might possibly mean. This type of art is difficult to judge because it is constantly transforming so, trying to explain the art would only be helping it to change even more.