To Whom Does the City Belong?

In 1968, VALIE EXPORT led Peter Weibel—on all fours and with a leash—through Vienna’s city center. In 2000, Christoph Schlingensief created a provocative container action, during which a section of Ottakring reinvented itself as Soho. Later, Neubaugasse became an advertising-free zone, and a walk-in sculpture on Wallensteinplatz became a stage for unanticipated experiences. The manifold aesthetic interventions in the urban fabric illustrate the view of Michel de Certeau that there is nothing predetermined in space, for it is the place where actions are carried out. Art in public space, however, not only rewrites existing contexts of meaning and power; it can also function as a catalyst for participative practices. It is in this way that art in public space first creates publicness—understood as an arena of frequently conflict-laden struggles.