Arte Util

/The following concept was generated by the artist to define her practice

Arte uìtil roughly translates into English as “useful art,” but it goes further, suggesting art as a tool or device. Arte uìtil draws on artistic thinking to imagine, create, and implement tactics that change how we act in society. This work methodology transforms social affect into political effectiveness through realizable utopias. Instead of focusing on production, arte uìtil generates a process of social implementation. The “usefulness” in arte uìtil is not about problem solving to improve the efficiency of the system, but about creating an altogether new system via a-legal loopholes. Arte uìtil shifts from production to a process of social implementation. (2017)

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Arte Útil aims to transform some aspects of society through the implementation of art, transcending symbolic representation or metaphor and proposing with their activity some solutions for deficits in reality. Most Arte Útil artist structured as a long-term project and the way it operates is dictated by the practical impact of their strategies. Arte Útil practices try to address the levels of disparities of engagement between informed audiences and the general public, as well as the historical gap between the language used in what is considered avant-garde and the language of urgent politics, science and other disciplines.

Bruguera created the Arte Útil Association in January 2011 to provide a platform to meet, exchange ideas, and share strategies on how to deal with the issues of implementing the merger of art into society. The association will work in an open manner through discussions, printed texts, actions groups, and public events examining what it means to create Arte Útil.  (2011)

Link to Arte Útil website: http://www.arte-util.org/about/activities/