A fragment of the Berlin Wall in the Centre de commerce mondial de Montréal : notes toward a theory of the public artefact at the "end of history"

The contemporary critical art practices of situational aesthetics and site specificity have affected and transformed the production and reception of monumental public art. This thesis examines the placement of a fragment of the Berlin Wall in the 'Centre de commerce mondial de Montreal' in light of the knowledge produced by these political and aesthetic practices. In keeping with materialist approaches to the study of art as well as to urban space, the production of the Wall fragment as a public monument is understood in terms of social relations and representation. By paying close attention to multiple spatial, aesthetic and social contexts, it is argued that the placement of the fragment in the CCMM yields specific meanings and preferred readings. While the interpretation provided in this thesis is situated and partial, it nevertheless makes the claim that the site chosen for this example of public art puts into question and undermines the very notion of the public sphere, that is, the same political ideal which establishes and legitimates "public art" as a social practice