In a circuitous way, I stumbled across the idea of relational aesthetics via my google hits this morning. This comes from Bourriaud, who is a French art critic/curator and has a tendency to neologisms like semionaut (for artist). Nevertheless am quite excited, because I like to rework other people’s two-word phrases as shorthand that can be activated to express and organise complex relationships – like Illich’s ‘convivial tools’, not to mention my very own ‘vernacular creativity’. In this case:
Relational Aesthetics
Aesthetic theory consisting in judging artworks on the basis of the inter-human relations which they represent, produce or prompt.
It appears Bourriaud uses this term to describe a specifically ‘new media’/new economy form of artistic practice that goes beyond early 90s ‘interactivity’, but I think we can reclaim it for the masses. Which I need to investigate further, but seems handy, because what gives some forms of vernacular creativity ‘legs’ on the network is of course to do with some alchemy of aesthetics, affective resonances, social connection.
4 responses to “Relational aesthetics”
Jean, there’s a conference about this at UTS in I think July. And Bourriaud is a confirmed speaker. Don’t have a url but its july 8-9, Art Gallery of NSW, and I think donnab at ag dot nsw dot gov dot au is the contact. I’m going to try to get there, for my money is the conference of the year in this part of the world.
(My) Online Opinion
Hmm. I’ve been invited to contribute a piece to the April feature of Online Opinion, which will look at online and alternative media in Australia. So, I guess I’ll have to make up my mind about what I thi
i’d like to invite you to read about the project based on relational aesthetics i aim to make this or next year on my familly’s proprety in the village next to Belgrade, Serbia, Europe. If you find it interesting, please post it to your friends or artistic organizations you know. Thanks! Gabriela Vasic
Relational aesthetics also has something to do with the environment in which it is staged; for example, at the Prague Bienalle, one exhibit consisted of art karaoke – some cheesy 90s pop tunes reworded to express the artist’s relationship to the gallery (“I’m Saving All My Art for You” or “I Want to Know What Art Is”) The thing that made it interesting was walking through the gallery and hearing these songs playing in the background, it was eerie, and I could tell that others felt similarly. Even though there were, at the time I was there, no other people actually singing using the karaoke, the fact that it was in the gallery itself, its presence practically begging me to grab the 9-foot paintbrush with a mic affixed to the end and belt out some Foreigner … well, I’m sure it took its toll on the guards.
A more successful example at the same biennial was an area that provided an opportunity for viewers to write an answer to a set of questions that essentially ask, “What comes after Capitalism?” It was engaging to read others opinions, and thought provoking to write my own ideas down for others.