Fail and guard : an interactive public art inquiry into the underlying attitudes towards socio-economic discrepancies in Stellenbosch

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY: Economic inequality in South Africa can be witnessed on a daily basis in terms of unequal educational opportunities, vast differences in living conditions, and inconsistencies in job opportunities, but is it observed? This public art research inquiry was inspired by interest regarding the extent to which economic inequality is dealt with among people in the upper financial bracket of South African society, particularly in Stellenbosch; a city with a high percentage of economic inequality (Ewert, 2013).Fail and Guard constituted a public art intervention which formed part of a participatory action research (PAR) process. With a view towards transformation and social justice in South African society at large, the aim of the research project was to explore how a public art intervention, functioning as part of a PAR process, could stimulate negotiation and dialogue on economic inequality in economically privileged Stellenbosch civilians.An interpretive paradigm and inductive approach to research was employed. An arts-based intervention was produced. It constituted a life-sized sculpture, representing an upper class woman, who was placed at two sites in Stellenbosch which are frequented by economically advantaged people. The sculpture and her props invited critical consideration regarding economic inequality on behalf of the public. By means of the sculpture, I aimed to spur participants to consequent action by inviting them to participate in an online survey and potential focus group discussion on the topic. The public art intervention formed part of a PAR design. Qualitative methods were used in gathering the experiences and responses from the public, and inductive content analysis was used to extract key themes in the data.Data was read through the theoretical perspectives of Henri Lefebvre on the production of social space, Paulo Freire on dialogic action, and Maxine Greene on the imagination, hope and action. It was found that Fail and Guard did open dialogue on the topic of economic inequality in economically advantaged Stellenbosch civilians, but that public art alone is not enough; it needs facilitation. It can therefore be put forth that the stages between posing questions using public art, collectively answering questions, and subsequently re-posing new questions and potential solutions with regards to transformation within the focus group needed monitoring, or facilitation, by a catalyst communicator. The sculpture of the arts based intervention was sometimes sufficient as catalyst communicator, but in reality the quality of discussion brought forth was largely dependent on facilitation from the research facilitator. Exploring other possible avenues of facilitation to accompany public art as part of PAR processes could positively contribute to furthering knowledge regarding the use of public art as a potentially valuable research tool in the context of South Africa.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University