Awkward Politeness: Public Art in Western Australia and Critical Discourse

Abstract

This paper aims to note several characteristics of public art in Western Australia in order to offer suggestions as to how future government commissioning of public art can insure against shortcomings of the past. However several obstacles to the research process added a second aim, that is, to critically reflect on the obstacles to critical engagement facing Western Australian public art more generally. In other words, the paper has a split focus supported by an examination of examples of Western Australian public art works: establishing a critique of obstacles to a critical discourse of public art as well as suggesting changes to the operation of public art governmental commissioning mechanisms in Western Australia.