Hand Out 'The Audience is Present' (2010)

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1 sitemap 1 research documentation on ‘audience, participatory art and relational aesthetics’ 2 non-relational whitecube video about relations (no audience participation) 3 non-relational non-whitecube video with relational effect (passive audience participation) 4 relational video with real-time, site-specific input (facilitated audience participation)

relational aesthetics interaction design participatory art audience artist social architecture is it a new ism? here & now (real time & site specific) & how (strategy) is it art? co-creation partnership collaboration user generated content

inclusion - - - chosen or compelled

exclusion - - - chosen of compelled

=

participation = a democratic right audience participation = an artistic right 2.0 culture = user generated content process > content process = content everybody = an artist?

From: ‘Guide to Saint Peter’s Basilica’ This ancient statue of St. Peter, portrayed as he gives a blessing and preaches, while holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven is famous throughout the world. Some scholars have attributed it to Arnolfo di Cambio (1245-1302), but others believe that it is a V century casting.

Pilgrims who come to the Basilica traditionally touch and kiss its foot, so that it is literally worn thin. In the Middle Ages pilgrims who reached Rome, touched and kissed the foot of the statue and prayed to St. Peter asking that he be merciful and open the gates of heaven for them if they died during the pilgrimage.

relational art is… relational art is… a dot on a line a proposition an arena of exchange an experience an encounter a dialogue a dance a strategy a process a chatroom a social construction still art

relational art is… an arena of exchange a dot on a line a proposition an experience a social construction still art a dialogue a dance a strategy a process an encounter a chatroom

a process an encounter a proposition an arena of exchange still art an experience a dialogue a dance a chatroom a social construction a dot on a line a strategy

relational art is… a chatroom a proposition an encounter a dot on a line an arena of exchange an experience a social construction still art a dialogue a strategy a process a dance

= means an even or equal relation between two or more people, things, numbers or concepts

The possibility of relational art (an art taking as its theoretical horizon the realm of human interactions and its social context, rather than the assertion of an independent and private symbolic space) points to a radical upheaval of the aesthetic, cultural and political goals introduced by modern art.

(art critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud)

One important thing that makes us human, one thing we have that separates us from all other species on our planet, has been noted by psychologists and biologists. It’s not the fact that we have a language to communicate with – other animals, such as birds, whales, dolphins, wolves, even bees, have sophisticated signalling systems.

It’s not that we have learned to use tools (chimpanzees do that), that we have built societies (ants have those), or learned to deceive (crows and monkeys). It’s not that we’re bipedal and have opposable thumbs (primates) or that we often mate for life (gibbons, prairie voles, angelfish, sandhill cranes, termites). What distinguishes us most is one thing that no other animals do: art. And it’s not just the existence of art, but the centrality of it. Humans have demonstrated a powerful drive toward making art of all different kinds – representational and abstract, static and dynamic, creations that employ space, time, sight, sound, movement and action. (psychologist and neuroscientist Daniel Levitin)

Vito Acconci, Following Piece (1969)

It is important to think of the structure, of the form of a relational artwork. One must be careful to focus on the relational aspects of the piece (actually harbouring ‘the art’) rather than on its aesthetic or conceptual assets, which might put the audience (or ‘stakeholders’) on the wrong foot. Are we encountering a traditional art object or are we rather entering a (virtual) meeting space where we can partake in an ‘art experience’? Therefore the outer appearance of a work must not look (too much) like a conventional art piece and decisions should be made accordingly. This is the biggest revolution in art since Marcel Duchamp: It is not the piece itself, nor its concept that shows beauty, the beauty lies in what the piece evokes, relational-wise. (notebook entry)

What is at stake here is that the romantic connotations of the artist as a unique, creative individual with a privileged place within society has been co-opted by the state (particularly in the UK and Netherlands) as an economic tool. In many cases, its glamorous associations are a cover for the increased precariousness of ‘creative’ (i.e. freelance) labour. The rhetoric of ‘Everyone is creative’ is a euphemism for introducing yet more independence from the welfare state. All this is important for contemporary art, because it means that certain terms that it holds dear now need to be urgently recontextualised: creativity, but also community and participation. (art theorist Claire Bishop) One absolute condition for new media artists who wish to co-operate and cocreate with other parties, say sponsors, creative industry or corporate business, is that they must fundamentally invest in sustained excellence in their own field of expertise. Truly collaborating parties can only meet on a level playing field, as confident, well-informed and above all even discussion partners.

If there is any inequality, which is the case if new media artists do not have sufficient skills, experience or erudition, the artists will be exploited as artistic puppets who do their entertaining little dance but never pull the strings. (new media theorist Geert Lovink)

Audience participation is a democratic right! (the audience at the performance of ‘Stimmung’ by Karlheinz Stockhausen, Holland Festival 1969) Art may be using new technologies, new media or new contexts of exhibiting, however this does not essentially create ‘new art’. ‘New art’ asks for a new attitude towards what art actually is and what art actually does. ‘New art’ also asks for preliminary questions: Is there at present an urgency which calls for ‘new art’ and if so, can we determine what that is? My guess would be ‘yes’ to both questions. We are here to find out. (notebook entry)

g o o d

c o l l a b o r a t i o n

d o e s n ’ t

n e c e s s a r i l y

m e a n

g o o d

a r t

( C l a i r e

B i s h o p )

artists can choose to continue along a path which will lead toward what is left of the established art world, or they can begin a process of looking for possibilities beyond the normal processes and contexts involved in the traditional production of art (Jennifer Delos Reyes, conceptual director of the symposium Open Engagement – Art After Aesthetic Distance)

0.0 art > audience 1.0 art > art work < audience 2.0 artist > audience > …

narratology & ludology narratology vs. ludology

how much is the audience willing to participate? how are they (best) invited to participate? to what extend are they meant to participate? for how many participants is a work conceived: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 20, 100, everybody?

participation does not mean pushing a button or triggering a sensor – buttonpushers are not participants

‘Power to the people!’

Manel Esparbé i Gasca

is participatory art a game or an agreement?

something went terribly wrong

mobilisation

the every day environment is a digital environment

2.0

(sketch for ‘uitsluitend toegankelijk voor manel esparbé i gasca’, a relational work for one person)

does post-capitalist society call for participation? how is art going to be financed in post-capitalist society? do participants need to pay the bills? do participants need to pay the artist? is art a basic human need? is art a basic human right?

PERFORMATIVE PROCES-BASED LOW-FI listening as a creative practice reciprocation is the backbone of participatory art mutual consent relational Aesthetics dialogical Aesthetics turn consumers into producers turn spectators into contributors

some ideas are simply not good enough

relational aesthetics does not necessarily concern imaginary visions, nor does it possibly envisage scenarios for the future â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it first and foremost concerns the HERE and NOW: relations between people, as they are in this specific place in this specific moment (...) relational aesthetics is â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;real time basedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and locative. (notebook entry)

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1 non-relational video about relations title: Group Therapy: Corrective Recapitulation of the Primary Family Experience Teresa van Twuijver, 2010 39’04”, color, with sound, looped 2 non-relational video with relational effect title: Ha Ha Teresa van Twuijver, 2010 1’35”, color, with sound, looped 3 relational video with real-time, site-specific input title: The Audience is Present Teresa van Twuijver, 2010 filmed and projected live, indefinite duration, color, no sound