Responding to and Researching
Public Art in Milton Keynes
Grennan & Sperandio, and Open University Social Geography Department

Artists: Grennan & Sperandio

Personal Views used two different methodologies for investigating audience responses to public artworks in Milton Keynes. It combined an artist-led ‘soft’ research project, which encouraged Milton Keynes residents to look anew at the artwork in their city, with ‘hard’ academic research investigating questions of place and identity in relation to public art.

The Art Comic Strip: Grennan & Sperandio (2001-2002)

Artists Simon Grennan & Christopher Sperandio were appointed to produce new work that would increase the people of Milton Keynes’ engagement with their city’s public art. The project aimed to develop new audiences, to raise the profile of public art, and to engage the public creatively in the development of a new art work.

Grennan & Sperandio invited residents to write in with their stories - whether fictional or factual – of artworks in Milton Keynes. The artists used these narratives to create a series of comic strips, and the contributors participated by art-directing their own tales. The resulting comic strips were published in the Milton Keynes Citizen newspaper and The Messenger, Milton Keynes Council’s free magazine. They have been produced as postcards distributed to all schools and sold throughout Milton Keynes - at Milton Keynes Gallery, the Visitor Information Centre and Central Library.

The Research Project: The Open University (2002-2003)

Prof Doreen Massey and Dr Gillian Rose, geographers from the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Open University, were commissioned to develop an academic research project to complement the comic strip project. The decision to engage academics from a non-arts background offered a means of establishing new perspectives and insights. Massey and Rose developed a research proposal that considered the impact of public art, looking particularly at its influence on the use and perception of public space, at issues of identity and ownership, and at public art’s relationship with the identity of the city. They were asked to consider artworks purchased for public spaces as well as artwork commissioned for specific sites. Their brief was established in the spirit of an enquiry into certain terms and preconceptions regarding public art.

Click here to view their research paper.

The reserch paper is provided in Word format, the link will open the document in a new window.

Commissioner

Milton Keynes Council

Partners

Milton Keynes Gallery, The Citizen newspaper, The Open University

Budget

£18k

Funders

Milton Keynes Council, Southern and South East Arts Regional Challenge Fund and New Audiences Fund

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