Research Catalogue

"My Public Stage" is not merely an artistic practice; it is a dynamic fusion of performance art and civic engagement that transcends conventional boundaries. At its core, this practice navigates the intricate relationship between the artist and the public sphere, offering an unconventional perspective on how art can reshape our understanding of the world. The essential aspect of this artistic journey lies in the intentional placement of artistic interventions and performances within public spaces, where the encounter with viewers is not a predetermined spectacle but a meeting. This deliberate approach seeks to dissolve the traditional separation between the artist and the individual, fostering a unique connection that is spontaneous and genuine. I view public space as not only a material but also a social environment that is produced, reshaped and restructured by the citizens through their experiences, their intentions for action and the relations they develop in it. My project draws on Lefebvre’s (2019) approach to urban public space not as a neutral container of social life, but as a fluid entity, both constructed and produced by social practices. Lefebvre’s approach confirms and expands my view that public space is not fixed, yet it requires a conscious effort to intervene in its production. The philosophy driving "My Public Stage" aligns with the concept of civic engagement. By presenting long durational performances in the heart of everyday life, the artist consciously assumes the role of a creator, using performance art as a medium to unveil the interconnected elements that bridge art with life. This philosophy echoes the sentiment of Joseph Beuys, who believed that everyone is an artist, actively sculpting the intricate sculpture we call life. In embracing the public sphere as its canvas, this practice transcends the conventional boundaries of art and daily reality. It becomes a catalyst for a different perspective on how individuals perceive and engage with their surroundings. The transformative power of performance art is harnessed to reveal the latent artistic potential within each person, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between art and life.

Through 2 workshops in Amsterdam and in Athens, we created a toolkit with artistic games and props, which all passengers can use in order to interact with others in public transport. My aim is to empower citizens to transform the non-place (Augé, 1995) in means of public transportation into performance space/time and, subsequently, social space/time (Lefebvre, 1991) through a creative form of civic encounter. Public transport is not only a public utility and a means of accessing other public places; it is also itself a mobile public space (Paget-Seekins & Tironi, 2016). Using public transport is an outdoor "necessary activity," which is more or less compulsory, such as going to work or waiting for a bus, where people are in "passive contact" with each other -they only see and hear other people- and only minimum activity takes place (Ghel, J. 2011, p. 9-13) " I dance in the shadows of the public and the personal. I travel between the rational and the irrational, between fantasy and reality. I invite you to a trip whose purpose is the journey, to introduce you to my friends, the known and the unknown, the transient, the ephemeral, the everyday. People, passing by, hurrying along, watch me, thousands of them swarm to my temporary island, my railcarriage, my home. They sit down across from me smiling at me. Do you want to play? Do you want to play? in this game there is neither winner nor loser. The realization of the significance, and yet the insignificance of my existence gives me balance. There is no stop-free trip, just as there is no stop without a traveller. I liken life to a string that pulsates and is constantly reshaped at any moment without specific angles or bows and sides, a string that offers us no chance to measure it. This is the field that concerns me primarily, the general reshaping taking place on all levels. I don’t separate life from creation nor do I separate art from life. I bear responsibility for the act of everyday life, conscious of the whole and of the future. I am a sensor of the universe and my actions are recorded and return to me, not so much in the form of punishment or reward, rather as the trajectory I pursue in my own significant / insignificant life. " IOANNIS KAROUNIS

Public Positions - looking into the works of MA PPS artists and their Public Spaces. With this new collective online publication, MA PPS curates past and current alumni artistic research processes and practices that encapsulate references and positions of public space discourse. The publication serves as documentation of artists who developed (part of) their research together with the programme, and that shares their valuable contribution to the field of Performing Public Space.