phoenix /danm 201 /ratm

Week 4: Relational Aesthetics and Tactical Media

While still showing evidence that he is stuck in the rhetorical context of curatorial practice, Nicolas Bourriaud's call for new approaches to understanding contemporary art practice is refreshing.   I am reminded of the work of Richard Reinhardt and others to create new forms of meta-data to categorize contemporary performance and artworks so that they can be archived.  Such a categorization is ultimately for the recognition of the contemporary aesthetic space by curators, and still leaves out a significant portion of contemporary art practice.  To quote Bourriard, “it is no longer possible to regard the contemporary work as a space to be walked through … It is henceforth presented as a period of time to be lived through, like an opening to unlimited discussion.” (Bourriard, p. 15)  

The contemporary art space, as described by Brian Holmes and Rita Raley in the next two articles, exist as a conversation, an ongoing discussion and engagement that transforms the participants as well as the space of the conversation.  This is a space where the artist is no longer the sole dispositor, one who stands outside the social milieu, achieving his or her own greatness through singular authorship.  Rather, the artist has become a facilitator for collaborative efforts, one who stands at the nexus of social discourse as a fundamental instrument for cohesion between participants.  Often the role of artist is not singular, rather the relation of the artist to a work is really the collaboration between one group of individuals relating to a larger group of individuals.  This is the role of the DoEAT group that is referenced in “Border Hacks”.   The space of collaboration is not just the work done by the internal group, but the reactions and interactions of those that witness and experience the work, as well as the reactions of those who would oppose the works.  This is a constantly evolving aesthetic form, as one group who's interests are opposed to another learns from the tactics of the other and adapts.  There is a similarity in the methods of these contemporary artists and marketing practices.  Both seek to influence the minds and behaviours of the consumers of their work.  They both use powerful symbols and signs that are significant to their target audiences to draw out meaning.  And they both are constantly adapting by observing the tactics of other media producers, as well as adapting to the ever changing landscape of public opinion.