'Disjointed days': Contemporary art and the human right to housing. (1st October 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Marquis, Vincent
• Is Part Of: Journal of arts and communities. Volume 8:Number 1/2(2016)
• Page Start: 93
• Page End: 105
• Publication Date: 2016-10-01
• Subjects: Community arts projects -- Periodicals; Art and society -- Periodicals; Artists and community -- Periodicals; 306.4705
• DOI: 10.1386/jaac.8.1-2.93_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-1936

Abstract

The human right to housing has a strange status in law, simultaneously codified in a number of international conventions and severely criticized, misunderstood or misinterpreted. This article considers two artistic views on the value of the human right to housing: Martha Rosler's 'If You Lived Here...' and Casco's recent projects on housing, gentrification and squatting, including the sitcom Our Autonomous Life? and the Convention on the Use of Space. I argue that examining the particular social contexts and the specific content of the claims made by these artists – notably the importance of housing to privacy, autonomy and freedom – illuminates a promising path forward for the right's legal interpretation and protection.