Jochen Gerz’s "2-3 Strassen" : (de)constructing the urban public

In this conference keynote I approach the theme of the conference by way of a major public art commission for the European Capital of Culture 2010 (RUHR2010, Germany). The major project was Jochen Gerz's "2-3Strassen". This paper argues that "2-3Strassen" is not another variation of ‘participatory art’, but explores ‘deconstructive social agency’. This argument, in turn, provokes some thoughts on the relation between the ‘urban’ and the ‘public’, by implication identifying the need for a fully theorised concept of ‘urban public