An overview of the key ideas of Rendell, J. (2008). Space, place and site in critical spatial arts practice. In C. Cartiere & S. Willis (Eds.), The Practice of Public Art (0 ed., pp. 33–55). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203926673

1. Place, Place and Site
in Critical Spatial
Arts Practice
By Jane Rendell
Aysia, Chloe, Claire and Darcy

2. Key Points
- Interest in site-specific art has developed an understanding of site beyond its location as
the place of the work in relation to performance and ethnography. They describe the site in
relation to the cultural and spatial practices that produce them
- The chapter examines work created and installed in a context outside and away from the
white-cube space, the curatorial decisions of commissioned works within a territory or
expanded field, and works that have their individual contexts but once seen altogether over
time have a relation both temporally and spatially
- Spatial works can be described as site, non-site and off-site. Each kind of work that falls
into any of those categories has some sort of relation to a place, be it physically,
representatively or abstractly in a public space. They can be inseparable from their
locational context as well as often offering a critique of institutions and art as a commodity

3. Key Points cont.
- There can be a crossover between art and design, as described in the second section
of the chapter. This is the architectural ideologies that mingle with artistic expression
and exploration thus creating an interdisciplinary practice. Considering the social and
architectural history of a space can allow sculptural works to expand into allowing for
engagement and participation for an audience to experience art in new and complex
ways
- As mentioned by De Certeau, space can be a practiced place. Through intentional
choice of place, works can elevate their own meaning as well as their considered
environment. Moreover, space can occur over a number of areas and still be related in
togetherness. For example, the performative actions taken in three different areas, by
themselves can conjure their own ideas and concepts, but as seen as a ‘constellation’
are giving a bigger and broader picture of overarching themes as well as positioning a
wider area

4. Arguments Put Forward From the Author
There is no overall argument, however, Rendell puts forward a range of conceptions and debates from artists and
creative practitioners that discuss off-site curating and site-specific art and the theories of space and place in Australia
contemporary cultural geography. The artists stress the importance of understanding the specifics of particular sites
and places, but only in relational terms as parts of larger networks, systems, and processes, physically, and
ideologically. The author also compares and contrasts artists off-site and site-specific works, highlighting interesting
ideas and a range of curatorial methods.
- Nick Kaye (p.33): has made an argument for site as a performed place. Sites are not defined in terms of
geometry but in relation to the cultural and spatial practices that produce them.
- Miwon Kwon (p.33): suggests that site-specific work lacks criticality. She warns that one of the dangers associated with
taking one site after another without examining the differences between them can cause “undifferentiated serialization.”
Kwon points to Homi Bhabha’s concept to avoid this:
- Homi Bhabha (p.33): the concept “relational specificity” is a way of thinking about the particularity of the relationships
between objects, people, and spaces positioned in the site

5. Arguments Put Forward From the Author
- Marxist thought on space (p.34): space was merely the site in which social relations took
place. And how the importance of space was in producing social relations.
- Henri Lefebvre (p. 34) the understanding of spatial practice as the “projection” of the social
onto the spatial field.
- Soja (p34-35): the notion of the sociospatial dialectic: that social and spatial relations are
dialectically inter-reactive, interdependent; that social relations of production are both
space-forming and space-contingent.
- Mike Crang and Nigel Thrift (p.35), Thinking Space identifies themes of experience and
travel, trace and deferral, mobility, practice, and performance.-marking a new intersection
between art and geography around spatial practice.

6. Definition of Terms
- SITE: non-gallery
- NON-SITE: gallery
- Robert Smithson’s dialectic (philosophy) of site and non-site is reflected through multiple writings.
The term “off site has been adopted by many contemporary galleries to describe the
commissioning and curating of works located outside the physical constraints of the gallery. This
meaning that the gallery is the “site”
- Smithson states “the former have open limits, a series of points,outer coordinates, subtraction,
indeterminate certainty, scattered information, and some place (physical).
- DIALECTIC: Generally is a discourse between two or more people holding different points of
view surrounding a particular subject, though they agree to establish the truth through
reasonable arguments.

7. Definition of Terms cont.
- THE EXPANDED FIELD: Rosalind Kruss’ introduced the notion of an “expanded field” in 1979 to
describe the work of artists producing interventions into the landscape. However, contemporary
practice seems to raise new questions around the method and terminology used. A question was
put forward: is the expanded field best understood in terms of site, place or space? Can the
process of art, architecture, and landscape design be better described in an interdisciplinary way
as spatial practices?
- SEMIOTIC SQUARE: Tool used for structural analysis, establishing relationships through
opposition of concepts (we discussed this last week in-class)

8. Relevance to the Botanica project/site
Some points to take into consideration when developing work for Botanica 2021 can include:
- Having a strategic positioning of the piece – the particular position can make the work more pertinent and
articulate questions.
- Allowing the viewer to occupy a series of positions which changes the viewer’s relationship with the work.
- Raising important issues concerning specific topics (e.g the work by Andrea Zittel p. 42).
- Taking into account how the work can be accessible to a general public and aligned with the needs of the
educational programs, their functionality, or directed social use.
- responding to a need of the area/people rather than just go looking for a possibility offered up by the site.
- understanding the specifics of particular sites and places, but only in relational terms as parts of larger
networks, systems, and processes, physically, and ideologically.
- Intentionally positioning one site next to another - Through actions and occupations how can you explore the
spaces between these places.
- Viewing space as a public place
- Specific parts of places is highly problematic and therefore not conventional to use
- Artworks located outside the gallery cannot be fully grasped through perceiving. Many require both perception
and conception as responses from the subject