Notes on Participatory Art
Toward a Manifesto Differentiating it from Open Work, Interactive Art and Relational Art.
by
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Contents
Introduction 3
Part I Toward a Manifesto of Participatory Art 5
Part II Historical roots before WW II 21
Part III Historical roots in the 1950s and 1960s 41
Part IV Not just in sculpture 58
Part V Potentials and pitfalls for the future 78
Part VI On a personal note 93
End notes 95
Index ………..
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About the Book
We are living in the Age of Participation. Social media are exploding, customer cooperation is sought in product development, and customer content is even built into media. But where is the art reflecting our times? Where are the artists making this kind of art? Who were their predecessors?
In this book the author traces the roots of Participatory Art from Duchamp, Mondrian and Moholy-Nagy via less well
known artists like Lygia Clark and Charlotte Posenenske as well as via better known artists like Joseph Beuys and Öyvind
Fahlström to contemporary artists showing an interest in participation like Olafur Eliasson and Antony Gormley.
“Participation is the most important thing that has happened in art” Gormley said in 2009.
What, then, is Participatory Art? After around 40 years of practice the author tries to distill the essential principles in
10 suggestions for a Manifesto. Most central is its focus on the unfolding creative moment itself and on the creativity of
the spectator.
About the Author
Gustaf Almenberg's first solo exhibition, held at Galleri Händer in Stockholm in 1982, was called Participatory Art (1972-1982).
This is the kind of art he has explored ever since.