In the wake of the publication of Art Made Public, a stunning celebration of Marijana Tadic’s thirty-year practice, the artist sat down to answer some of our questions about public art and its role in society.

How do you define public art and what draws you to it as a medium?

For me, the role of public art is to provide a sense of collective cohesion, identity and belonging to those who coexist with a place.

There are many ways one can approach creating public art, and each approach should bring a positive value and purpose to the location and its people.

It is also a way to have a creative dialogue in the public forum about who we are and who we wish to be.

For me, public art as a medium, being three dimensional, awakens all the senses. So texture, volume and space, colour, materials, sounds, vistas, landscape and kinetics are part of the artwork experience. The cultural and geographic context informs the concept and the final artwork ultimately should enrich the narrative of the site and create a special place.

You were among the first women in South Australia to be granted a General Builders and Supervisor Licence. How does having your Builders Licence enrich your practice?

The General Builders and Supervisors Licence gave me the confidence and encouraged me to further understand many materials and how to find the best construction and fabrication methods.

As most of my sculptures are steeped in conceptual considerations, my artwork could not restrict me to one medium only. I needed to understand intrinsics of various materials to find the most conceptually suitable and the most innovative construction method to achieve my goal in expressing a particular concept or narrative.

Also, a good understanding of engineering requirements helps in finding sharper design and aesthetic solutions.

How do social issues play out in your works, and what do you think art’s role is in responding to these issues?

Our daily life is full of social, political and environmental concerns. These influence the quality and our way of life. We cannot escape them even if we intentionally wish to avoid them. Every place and location (countries, states, towns and villages) has its own history and cultural palimpsest that shaped it. Be they ancient or in recent history these decisions still influence how we live today.

We travel the world to experience other cultures and its art. For me, art is a mirror of our changing society. In Australia, we have so many wonderfully creative and talented people, and they are often well recognised around the world. Culture and the arts is a driving economic factor. However, I think in general, Australia does not invest enough into creativity and the arts. Sometimes it is a lip service, like with our First Nations arts and culture. We use Aboriginal art to represent us as Australians internationally, however, we still have not found our peace with our history and how it has shaped us as a society.

The arts is the first to suffer if the economy of a nation is under threat.

I believe if we could support and see the arts as we support and see sports in Australia, we would benefit much more economically, culturally and socially.

What do you perceive to be the differences in the ways in which Australia and Europe enable (or restrict) public art?

Support and implementation of public art in Europe varies from country to country. For example Berlin cannot be compared to Tirana or London to Zagreb. One small country that stands out is Slovenia, where urban planning in particular of their capital Ljubljana has been very clever. Some public art has been included in their environmentally smart pedestrian oriented open spaces.

The investment into public art very much reflects the country’s wealth, political willingness and people’s ability to support urban and public spaces.

Many poorer countries struggle to have a basic functioning infrastructure, hence public art there is very low on the agenda. Unless the public art’s role is to support a political system, as it was/is historically demonstrated in many countries when symbols of particular systems were/are put on high pedestals. Public art and urban spaces often reflect how the country functions, culturally and politically.

Australia’s public art awareness is at the forefront internationally, through various government public art policies. The selection and implementation process sometimes fails, but generally there is a good intention to include public art into our community open spaces.

One area that still requires urgent attention and commitment from commissioners is ongoing maintenance after the artwork is installed.

What do you hope readers can gain from a book of your work?

In this book, I share my insights into the process, conceptual development and execution of ten public art projects I have completed in South Australia. Whether you are an artist, a commissioner or an interested viewer of art in public spaces, I hope my reflections are useful and can support more diverse perspectives to be made public.

I also share a number of questions I employ during site and cultural analysis. These help me understand the purpose of the artwork and how it will serve its community.

Description and visuals of 10 various public projects show the complexity and joy of working in the public realm. It is always a collaborative process and a serious juggle to meet many demands. There is much more happening in the background than the final work will ever demonstrate.

All public art is a compromise, a negotiation between the creative and the practical.

Personally, observing the recent public artworks in South Australia, I have concluded public artworks should not be divorced from an artist’s studio exploration and ongoing art practice. The ongoing studio practice supports curiosity and courage to try new ways of creating, hence resulting in more powerful and exciting public art expressions.

Public art does influence how we interpret the culture and the world we live in. I believe it is important that we are mindful of the implementation process and what we decide represents our values and aspirations.

What are you currently working on?

I am engaging more as a consultant within public art, helping community groups gain their voice through public art on issues important to them. This includes helping communities arrive at the suitable forms, aesthetics and concepts, while addressing public space requirements around safety and maintenance.

I also enjoy working with urban design teams when reinvigorating local sites and precincts.

My studio practice is an active and exciting hub of exploration of materials and techniques.

I am focusing on researching beautiful natural forms and how they are constructed. Currently using plexiglass and LED light.

This will no doubt result in a new body of work, further focusing on the natural phenomena of bioluminescence.