00

The Art of Being in Public

A Barcamp with Critical Practice featuring The KNOT team and guests

The art of being in public: A Barcamp with Critical Practice featuring The KNOT team and guests

BarCamps are good for peer-2-peer exchange when they explore the concerns of a community of practice. For The Knot, Critical Practice will facilitate a barcamp on the art of being in public, specifically ‘good practices’ that transmute our understanding of the public realm. We will engage with the question: What are the material, economic, social, conceptual and psychic conditions necessary for realizing a genuinely public project using artistic and other means? Members of Critical Practice will address this question by reflecting on their recent undertaking, Parade (May 21-23, 2010 at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London, UK). This three-day event explored the theme of being in public with a bespoke, temporary structure – constructed in public - and the aggregation of a public through different modes of assembly and forms of address. Those involved in The Knot and other public initiatives are invited to share their own experience of the art of being in public.  

*BarCamps work like this:* Contributions are proposed in relation to the barcamp's question on-the-day by attendees. All attendees are encouraged to contribute and share their expertise for 10 minutes, with 5 minutes for questions/discussion. BarCamps work well with between 12 and 15 people, so during the Knot they can grow, divide and multiply as participants join or leave. Using flip boards, we try to keep notes and everyone is encouraged to share information and experiences of the event, both live and after the fact via blogging, photo sharing, social bookmarking, wiki-ing, twitter, etc.