Envisioning Art Spaces

Beginning with ideas about how these art spaces envision themselves as social sculptures, this chapter explores the spectrum of motivations ranging from utopian or apathetic isolationism to locational immersions lionizing ideas of history, community and social responsibility. These artistic concepts help define the kind of art space that is being made. Understanding the various motivations behind these spaces help elucidate their ideological nature, and the conceptual downgrading of the significance of materiality and physical space. The conflation of art-making and space-making, the depreciation of materiality in favor of process, the aspirations for utopic islands, nostalgic romanticizations, and the contradictory tendencies towards indifference all mark some of the key motivations. The aim of this chapter is to understand the stated intentions behind these art spaces.