To be continued - Deborah Smith

Can temporary interventions into the activities of a small town create a meaningful dialogue with the people that live and work there? To Be Continued furthers the discussion on critical art practice in public places, examining the potential for socially engaged projects. The book features contextual essays by leading critics, and projects from more than 20 international practitioners developing ways of working with the built environment, social history and day-to-day culture of Walsall, a post-industrial town in the West Midlands, UK. Together the works define a public space without physical boundaries, extending traditional notions of monument, spectacle and civic pride. The commissions include major architectural collaborations by Richard Wentworth and Catherine Yass, a web-based project by Anne Parouty, interventions into local businesses by Jeremy Deller, Henrik Plenge Jakobsen and Sean Dower, performances by Julie Laffin and Bobby Baker, and installations by Fiona Banner and muf.