In exploring the motivations behind art spaces, which are also spaces of artistic production, the Beuysian influence is pervasive. In the early 1970s, Joseph Beuys began ascribing his artistic work with an expanded understanding of what art is, becoming one of the first post-war artists to:

Beginning with ideas about how these art spaces envision themselves as social sculptures, this chapter explores the spectrum of motivations, ranging from utopian or apathetic isolationism, to locational immersions lionizing ideas of history, community and social responsibility. The purpose in doing so is to eventually understand the ways that aspiration operates in the gap between hopes and realities, rather than to develop a theoretical concept of the art space, which is often much mythologized (Hawkins, 2017).

Introducing the art spaces through their conceptual motivations is also a way to show the connectedness of art spaces across different contexts in Berlin and Beijing, as well as the diverse ways that these connections can be made. Following Livingston (1998: 831), this chapter assumes that the motivations, like stated intentions, have various consequences that do not necessarily follow in desired or targeted results. Explaining these motivations is not a prerequisite for analysing the place-making practices subsumed in realizing these art spaces. Non-representational theorists would rather insist on focusing on the practices and the ‘making of ‘, rather than the ‘social meaning projected on the urban landscape, which [is] insufficient to understand the actual use and occupation of urban space’ (Hubbard, 2006: 126). Still, Chapters 3 and 4 seek to present both the articulated artistic motivations and the practices, providing a more ‘stereoscopic vision’ integrating both perspectives (Helbrecht, 2004). In many ways, this chapter also offers a glimpse into the different rationalities underpinning the practices discussed in Chapter 4.