In the graduation season of another year, when watching the graduation exhibition of various colleges and universities, we will find a major that is very interesting. Its student works include illustration, print, installation, ceramics, multimedia, building models, and even performance art. This is what we are going to talk about today - public art major. Public art majors are relatively small compared with other art disciplines, but in recent years, due to the artistic needs of urban construction, many domestic art colleges and universities have also opened this subject, and many students are interested in it. What kind of subject is public art? How is it different from pure art? Do domestic and foreign universities have corresponding majors? We will answer these questions one by one.

Public artist Neil Dawson exhibition

　　 What is public art?

Some people often think that the definition of public art is very vague. In fact, whether it is a decorative painting in the toilet or a giant installation in the square, as long as the artistic creation based on public space is not limited to any form of expression, it belongs to the category of public art.

Public art is not like other works of art that can be placed in an art museum as an independent body for exhibition. Its existence is based on the environment. It is a visual supplement to the landscape environment. Publicity and openness are the biggest characteristics of public art.

Design of mirror stereoscopic device in desert

The emergence of public art is due to the development of the city, and people have a higher spiritual demand for public space, which requires the use of artistic means to combine local characteristics, human history, and geographical environment to endow the place spirit in a specific space with art.

The "letter" seat on the square

For example, the "Beijing Square" in the front door of Beijing is a public art place with a typical theme latitude, which makes this historic district more dynamic through artistic transformation. In the central square, there is a landscape installation called "Taifushi", which is evolved from the shape of Taihu Lake Stone, and aims to form a mobile scene for people. People can sit, lie or walk in accordance with their own way to integrate into this infinite environment.

Beijing Square - "Too Thick"

However, in general, the domestic public art started late, and has the characteristics of unified style and greater policy impact. On the contrary, the development of public art in developed countries such as Britain and the United States has been very mature, and they have specific laws to support it. The government will give a certain proportion of funds for the establishment of public art for the development of all public areas.

　　 Domestic art colleges

Public art and design is a new professional direction of art and design in China. Many universities have set up this discipline. However, because there is no unified teaching system for this discipline and the concept of this discipline is broad, the curriculum arrangement of each university is quite different.

The domestic public art classification is more like a major between pure art and art design. The study of professional skills is more inclined to arts and crafts disciplines, but it also needs to learn the theoretical knowledge and software use of design disciplines.

2019 Yangmei Graduation Exhibition Public Art Area

For example, China Academy of Fine Arts, due to its teachers and traditional advantages, Gome's public art design specialty is among the earliest in China. It belongs to the public art academy, and its curriculum is very typical, integrating different courses of sculpture, modeling, landscape and other three disciplines, which is also the curriculum adopted by most colleges that offer this specialty.

The other top public art major in China is Jiangnan University, a comprehensive college. Its training goal is more oriented to compound talents. In addition to basic modeling courses, the curriculum arrangement also includes early media materials and subsequent planning and communication, and also includes product design under new media, which is more in line with the characteristics of the times.

In addition, the arrangement of public art courses in other art colleges will also be biased based on the original teaching advantages. For example, Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts, formerly the Central Academy of Arts and Crafts, offers public art courses that are more craft oriented, with many courses such as print, lacquer painting, pottery, etc; As for Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, the original dominant subject is environmental art design, and its courses focus on landscape and urban planning.

Student's work of Tianmei Public Art Major - "Mapping" lighting device

Multi media and multi channels are the professional characteristics and advantages of public art. But at the same time, due to the large number of subjects that public art majors need to learn in domestic colleges and universities but the short time allocated, they are also faced with the problems of high teaching costs and students' difficulties in learning and employment.

Therefore, no matter sculpture, installation, oil painting, etc. are only differences in form of expression, colleges and universities cultivate our design awareness and learn how to use media to interact well with the public and the environment, while specific media and discipline preferences still need our own choice and deepening.

　　 Foreign art colleges

There is almost no public art design discipline in foreign art colleges, because the concept of public art is integrated into various art disciplines by them. Foreign universities attach importance to interdisciplinary, interactive, practical and various forms of expression, which are all characteristics of public art.

However, the closest correspondence with the domestic public art discipline should be space design and pure art Fine Art. Space design is also a popular art discipline recently. It is different from traditional architectural disciplines such as interior and landscape. It pays more attention to the relationship between people and space, and pays more attention to thinking about the space needs of people's activities.

Students' works of visual space design

such as London University of the Arts The major of Interior&Spatial Design is a very comprehensive major. The course direction includes architecture, art form, interior and space practice, and the purpose is to train students to explore the possibility of people and space.

In addition, there is another Japanese university whose space design is closer to the domestic public art discipline. It is the Musashino University of Fine Arts, one of the five largest universities in Japan. Its predecessor is the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. It is a comprehensive university that attaches great importance to plastic arts.

Therefore, the Department of Space Arts set up by the school also attaches great importance to students' modeling ability. The curriculum is arranged through four links, namely, interior design, environmental planning, arts and crafts, and clothing design, with the purpose of cultivating designers' ability to create beautiful and rich human activity spaces.

Works of space art students of Musashino University of Fine Arts

From the perspective of curriculum arrangement of domestic public art majors, it is generally believed that there are more similarities with pure art Fine Art. Pure art is also known as a "free discipline". It has many forms of expression and attaches importance to the professional skills and subjective creativity of designers.

about Studying Abroad in Pure Art Major In fact, you already know very well, and you can compare the choice of schools according to your own professional focus. For example, Central Saint Martin values creativity; The imperial art pays more attention to the combination of creation and social practice; Rhode Island School of Design In the pure arts category, we have set up a ceramics major, which emphasizes students' practical ability and so on.

Rhode Island Ceramics Professional Studio

The above is the interpretation of the major of public art and colleges at home and abroad, hoping to bring some reference to your professional choice. In fact, both at home and abroad, the application of public art in the image design of the city is getting more and more attention, and the demand for talents is also increasing. It is closely related to architecture, garden, landscape and other fields, but in a sense, it is more inclined to visual communication and artistic experience, so it cannot be explained or summarized by a single design discipline.

If students are interested in public art, they can find the direction they can use no matter which subject they study. This is also an interdisciplinary concept that we have always advocated to blur professional boundaries and start from practical needs.

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