Resistance/Persistence

The book focuses on art as an activity that might be unannounced, might be clandestine, in some sense it might be private, and nevertheless it takes place in shared spaces and wants to generate and participate in public debate. In recent times, amidst a backdrop of right-wing populist and separatist politics, Collectivity, Solidarity, Interdependence have emerged as important but contested terms, the key questions perhaps centering on the struggle for Unity, Antagonism and the individuated subject in a single 'body'. The book focuses on the work of Ben Cain, and invites contributions from other writers and artists in order to broadly explore a form of a socially-minded practice that involves seemingly private activity in physical public space. We are familiar with the idea of the digital public space of the Internet echo-chamber, but what happens when we apply that same idea to actions that take place in physical public space?

The book is intended as an object, an object with a concept that's based on how, what, and with whom or even with what the work communicates - How does the author communicate the idea of private work and public work in his practice? And in what ways might that work act as a platform for subsequent work to be undertaken by others?

Even when working in the public realm, and even while the work appears heavily invested in mobilising public dialogue and activating public space, there's sometimes an uncertainty as to whether the work actually wants to engage with the social aspect of that the space. The work's dual character of being both outward-facing and inward-facing is a thread that runs through this book, and the wider significance of this dichotomy -isolated private actions that appear to reach out to others in public space- connects to broader questions about public space as the increasingly contested site for the potential of transformative experience, shared collective experience, and political action when those public spaces are marked by excessive regulations, cultures of fear, and commercial interests.

The book is co-edited by and features writing from Zagreb-based curator Davorka Vučić-Perić, published by Vizura Aperta Croatia, and will be designed by Croatian award-winning design studio Oaza.