Art, the Architectonic and Functionality

What is the status and position of the ‘functional’ art object? My research has
sought to consider the role of the object in recent examples of socially-engaged
art practice, by examining the notion of the ‘useful’ in contemporary art as
conceptualized by theorist Stephen Wright and his advocates. By interrogating
the praxis of the Turner Prize winning architectural collective Assemble and the
deeper social-engagement of American artist Theaster Gates, I have sought to
decode the institutional structures supporting their work, permitting a more
nuanced assessment of the status of the useful object as art. During my
research I undertook a six-month collaborative project with the staff and
students of an M.Arch module at the Sheffield School of Architecture. The
module addressed issues of local energy generation and use within a geo-sociological context and gave me the opportunity to create a body of work in
response to these themes of utility. Through the development of my own praxis,
the concomitant practice-led research and the critical distance this has
permitted, I have been able to consider art’s relationship to objects of utility
within the epistemologies of both my art and design background. For, as I
conclude, it may be better to view these objects as the result of socially-engaged
creativity – as critically-engaged architectonic design – rather than
objects of art, thereby encouraging contemporary art practice to continue to
stand in autonomous opposition to the instrumentalizing forces of capitalism.