Vandalism, Removal, Re-Siting, Destruction: The Dilemma of Public Art's Permanence

Abstract: Public art is often equivocal, unresolved, and ambivalent. Its meaning is neither inherent nor eternal but processual: dependent on a variety of cultural and social relationships and subject to the volatile intangibles of multiple publics and their fluctuating interests and feelings. Consequently, public art that contradicts, violates, or condemns presentist concerns and beliefs may be defaced and despoiled. Some works may be removed, re-sited, dismantled, and/or destroyed. This symposium examines the dilemma of public art's permanence, particularly when it embodies values or supports beliefs no longer considered viable among various publics. Focusing on both historical and contemporary examples, it contextualizes how and why public art is sometimes vandalized and removed and provides a theoretical overview of the subject, asking: What are the ethical and political terms of public art's damage and destruction? Do such acts constitute public dissent? Is it legitimate to erase aberrant historical memories? What are the alternatives to the defacement and destruction of public art?