Conversations at the Castle: Changing Audiences and Contemporary Art - Hardcover

This text addresses one of the most troubling questions of contemporary art theory and practice: who is contemporary art for? It is based on the premise that contemporary artists and the general public have something to say to each other. By posting the space of "conversation" as one in which artworks can be experienced as creative sites open to multilayered interpretations by changing audiences, the book provides an antidote to the modernist connoisseurial silence that has long been used to define quality. The book is divided into three sections. The first contains essays by project curator Mary Jane Jacob, critic and coeditor Michael Brenson, and cultural critic Homi K. Bhabha. Their essays describe approaches to contemporary art and its audiences at a time of increased access through technology and decreased government funding. The second section contains essays by the six artists/collaborative teams involved in the project. Their works, aimed at public participation, included installation-performances, collaborations with Atlanta communities, cross-country tours, and the creation and presentation of food as a means to stimulate conversation and construct community. The artists are: artway of thinking (Italy), Ery Camara (Senegal/Mexico), Mauricio Dias and Walter Riedweg (Brazil/Switzerland), Regina Frank (Germany), IRWIN (Slovenia) and Maurice O'Connell (Ireland). The final section contains seven essays by the critics, curators, educators, administrators, and artists who led the "Conversations on Culture" at The Castle.