The Art of the Multitude: Jochen Gerz-Participation and the European Experience

Contemporary European public art often addresses the past and future of European unity, democracy, immigration, and civil rights. The Art of the Multitude explores how participation in art works affects the formation of public memory, the commemoration of historical events, and the creation of an urban landscape that articulates cultural identity and recognition. Looking in particular at the lifetime’s work of one of Europe’s foremost artists of the public realm, German conceptual artist Jochen Gerz, The Art of the Multitude uses a variety of artists’ works as fulcra for discussing the European experience of war and conflict, peace and reconciliation. And while the artworks discussed and implications thereof are certain to be of interest to art theorists and historians, cultural researchers in policy, public space, and the built environment will all find something to participate in or engage with.