Making Things Matter (Multimodally)
As Thomas Farrell in his article “Sizing Things Up: Colloquial Reflection as Practice Wisdom” explores how Rhetoric can assign importance and emphasis to publicly contested manners. His argument suggests that the enthymematic nature of rhetorical argument allows us to make judgments due to three notable qualities: contingency, magnitude, and phronesis, or practical knowledge. Such a framework for understanding how things are made to matter through rhetorical argument and reflection provides a useful platform through which I can assess how I intend to make my subject of public art in Chicago matter to an audience for the final project.
To me, my final project rests primarily upon the notion that public art has tangible value and should be protected, appreciated and engaged. Public artists in Chicago should be able to express themselves creatively and play a role in the identity of the city as well as how we interpret it. While public art can be appreciated for its beauty and its message, it also plays an important role in liberal democracies by perpetuating discourse and providing the public with a variety of perspectives regarding relevant, ongoing issues in the community. In this sense, this argument also rests upon the notion that democracy should be preserved through the things and activities that contribute to it.
My project engages with contingency by situating itself within and acknowledging the ongoing problem of public art controversy and erasure in the city of Chicago. Part of advocating for the importance of public art in the city means discussing recent instances of erasure that have set the stage for a response in defense of artists and their public works. It also recognizes the status of Chicago as a city whose citizens value and cherish its plentiful and diverse instances of public art throughout the city. Most importantly, in light of these circumstances, the citizens as the collective public of Chicago are now at a place where, as positioned subjects and actors, to decide how to approach the way public art is viewed and treated. While a consensus on public art in the city has yet to be reached, we can look at the outcomes of public art erasure and the benefits of exposure to help influence our decision.
While the issues surrounding public art may not carry the same sense of magnitude as something like viewing the Earth from the moon, it’s important to note that magnitude is all about relativity and scale. This project aims to assign a greater magnitude to the impact of public art for the Chicago community by noting how it is tied into larger, overarching concerns that have been assigned weight. When public art becomes subject to removal or erasure, it can be a kind of violence of silence, a censorship of the opinions and values of the disenfranchised. This taps into the larger history of socioeconomic discrimination and segregation in the city. The issue also fundamentally involves the protection and promotion of democracy, another concern that carries weight on a patriotic scale.
When the community realizes the power behind who gets to say what and which opinions are allowed to be displayed in the community, the acknowledgement of how important public art is to the city of Chicago and its local inhabitants suddenly begins to develop magnitude. Magnitude for this situation is also amplified by contingency; given the recent instances of erasure and the proposal of a mural registry by the city council, it is clear that the events leading up to this moment have brought the issues surrounding public art to the forefront of considerations in the city. There is no better time to acknowledge what is at stake and spread awareness of the issue at hand.
I hope my project will make public art matter by demonstrating its importance and letting the audience know that they have a say in the future of the medium as citizens of Chicago. I want to share stories of loss, the erasure of murals that strips something away from a community’s identity. I want the community to know what they risk losing and what it offers; the democratic nature of public art that engages should be cherished and respected. With the development of the mural registry as an offered solution, I want people to think critically about its implications and effectiveness. Ultimately, I want the audience to know that they have the power to enact change and provide direction for the future of public art in the city of Chicago.
