What makes public art public?

Kwon argues there are three ways public art has been approached – as art in public places, art as public spaces, and art in the public interest.

Henry Moore’s work is from the former category as his works don’t draw influence from, or reflect the surroundings in which they are placed but rather can stand as sculptures on their own in any environment. He states ‘To display sculpture ­­to its best advantage outdoors, it must be set so that it relates to the sky rather than to trees, a house, people or other aspects of its surroundings’

To me public art should be all about relating to the surroundings and the people ‘the public’. Kwon says these types of works are forms of public art as they are in public areas but due to the evolution of this type of art I feel these works are less relevant to the community today. Successful public art I believe is a combination of site specificy relating to formal architectural components of the work and the environment, and a complementing link with the social make up of the area.