Reading Urban Cracks
Practices of Artists and Community Workers Riet Steel, Elly Van Eeghem, Griet Verschelden & Carlos Dekeyrel (eds.)
Literature Study
Jeroen Vandervelden September 5th, 2012 Leuven, Belgium
Why this book?
Why and how of setting up artistic and social practices in Urban Cracks Lamination of meanings and conflicting logics as significant features Discussion of potential: Practices in and with Urban Cracks can bring forth political meaning Practices engaged in analysing and translating pertinent developments of society Place of interest: former Ghent harbour neighbourhoods
On Urban Cracks
Crack: - Suggests existence of bigger whole - Broken part where one can look into, to discover anatomy and possibilities Most viewed in the changing city Conflicting logics, conflicting interpretations, persistent standstill Hereby becoming meaningful sites for critical practice Uses: Just passing - Out of frame Interim - Temporary proposing new modes of coexistence
Case Studies
ARTIST Elly van Eeghem: Oceaniestraat recto/ verso specific on 1 urban crack SOCIAL WORKERS Assurance Ambiance: building continuity troughout 4 interventions
Assurance Ambiance
POSITION Funded and founded by City Mutual influence? LEVERAGE Social sustainability achieved through balance of familiarity and alienation Slowness: Letting go / continuity issues final influence not measurable REMARKS: Mobility? Poverty and social inequality?
Analysis
Reconceptualise community, social and art Clarify potential of localised practises that work with context Argue they should understand starting points, and recognise plural meanings of their work Political meanings
Reconceptualise
Communities: Objects to be developped Strong coherence can counter social problems However, preserve ambivalence
The social is the intermediate sphere: public - private Forum
Art: placed or localised Localised in context, it triggers imagination, therefore dynamics Site-responsive practice
Potential of localised practices
With Context enables reflection, unlayering Requires slowness provides full layered reading room for reaction
Contextualised practice: thinking through making, making as knowing
Artistic and social meanings Cross-over is productive but everyone’s role must be negotiated clearly, clarifying starting points and sediments
Political meanings
“Practices lost ability to formulate alternatives towards social justice� Problems: City Marketing Urban Policy
City Marketing ensure growth, promote middle class not lower class Social workers used as interim, just passing
Urban Policy Functional attitude, making gentrification possible Promoting practices, means neutralizing them
Political meanings
Keeping social practices operable: Engaging informal actors in democratization of urban development: Localised practices as Agitators Provocation, out of frame use, questioning logics within context recognisable by target audience.