Public spaces can commonly be understood as Public Domain: that they allow socialisation. Interaction and sharing among people in the form of open and free access to everyone. They are nodes that enable the creation of social networks and the consequent unrestricted circulation of flows of information - they are symbols of social diversity and healthy public.

While public space is physical, the public itself is created only when people are out there. One cannot be the public, but merely be in public space and become part of the public through actions that happen there. To this definition any space or platform can take the shape of public space, depending on how it is interpreted and acted upon.

Public spaces are not shirking, but growing. The form of these public spaces is morphing into more privately owned public spaces such as shopping mall and cafes. And there is a new dynamic of the online, which have many characteristics of public space, most notably that they are increasingly owned by private agencies.

The quantity of time we spend online is significant, and its growth in the last few years has been accelerated due the pandemic. While this has been a forced migration it has left us with little to no time to contemplate on this subject. We use many spaces as public platforms without even realising it.

Actions, knowledge production and unprecedented happenings are traits of a public space that can be understood as Public Domain. Public Domain is not a repository in this case, but rather “verb” that is formed in public space. It is dynamic and unpredictable, making new experiences and unique ways for this information to flow.

Walkin Studios has always strived to keep up with the relevance of contemporary art. We believe that in the next few years it is very important to talk about Public Space and Public Domain as policies are becoming less transparent, paving way for more POPS (Privately Owned Public Space)- online and IRL. Given the socio-political situation it is imperative in the next few years to have discussions and dream about healthy Public Spaces and Public Domain.

publicdomain.garden aims at creating actions, interventions, happenings that highlight the dynamic state of public spaces and its unprecedented nature. And most importantly to explore the idea of Public Domain as a ‘verb’. The project consists of works that explore public space. It invites artists, researchers and academics exploring the digital commons, ways of digital commoning, oral histories, the imagination of ‘public’ in Web3, DAOs, crypto-worlds. And we will aim to deploy the mediums of mass communication like billboards and ads, as well as actions like performances and individual conversations to invite different ‘publics’ to collectivley discover a new ‘public domain’.