ONE PLACE AFTER ANOTHER - Monoskop

5 The change in exhibition title signals a major shift in the conceptual basis of the show, from
public art as static objects (in the tradition of monuments) to public art as process-oriented
actions. This change was originally suggested by artist Daniel Martinez.
6 Held from May 10 to October 27, 1989, this was a standard juried exhibition. The ten participating
artists were Vito Acconci, Richard Deacon, Richard Serra, Judith Shea, Josh Garber,
Sheila Klein, Daniel Peterman, David Schafer, Thomas Skomski, and Rogelio Tijerina. There
was a blatant division of artists and their work in terms of their status in the international art
scene. For example, the first four artists were given prominent city locations (Pioneer Court,
the plaza in front of the Equitable Building on North Michigan Avenue) whereas the remaining
six less-established artists were given a secondary location (Cityfront Center near the NBC
Tower). Also, the first four simply installed their works for presentation whereas the remaining
six had to fulfill the “Art-in-Progress” component of the program: they were set up in tents
on site to work on their sculptures so that their “creative working process” could be viewed
by the passing “public.” This hierarchization of artists was repeated in the promotional materials
including the catalogue, where the first four received luxurious treatment, with several
pages of images and text for each, while the latter six were given short, one-paragraph
descriptions.
7 Interview with the author, May 14, 1996.
8 Jacob has said that the progamming of “Culture in Action” was most directly inspired by
David Hammon’s House of the Future, a community-based project that was part of the 1991
Spoleto Festival exhibition “Places with a Past,” which Jacob also curated. For more on
Hammon’s project, see the exhibition catalogue Places with a Past: New Site-Specific Art at
Charleston’s Spoleto Festival (New York: Rizzoli, 1991). See also Tom Finklepearl’s comments
in Dialogues in Public Art (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000), 41–42.
9 The most prominent art world figures who have spoken in enthusiastic support of “Culture in
Action” include David Ross, former director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and
Arthur Danto, art critic for the Nation. See also Michael Brenson, “Healing in Time,” in Culture
in Action, 16–49; Edward J. Sozanski, “A New Spin on What Art Can Be When It Goes Public,”
Philadelphia Inquirer, August 22, 1993; and Suzi Gablik, “Removing the Frame: An Interview
with ‘Culture in Action’ Curator Mary Jane Jacob,” New Art Examiner (January 1994): 14–18.
Art historian Patricia Phillips wrote: “This radical project left few assumptions about public
art, perception, distribution, and roles of artists—and curators—unchallenged. ‘Culture in
Action’ raised significant questions and issues that have renergized a dialogue on public art.”
Similarly, Lucy Lippard wrote in praise of the show’s exhibition catalogue: “In the thirty years
that the role and efficacy of an outreaching public art has been debated within the ‘avant-
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NOTES TO PAGES 100 –103