Relational Aesthetics

According to Wikipedia relational aesthetics, or relational art, is “… a mode or tendency in fine art practice originally observed and highlighted by French art critic Nicolas Bourriaud.  Bourriaud defined the approach as “a set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context, rather than an independent and private space.”

“The artist can be more accurately viewed as the “catalyst” in relational art, rather than being at the centre.”

One of the first attempts to analyze and categorize art from the 1990s, the idea of Relational Art was developed by Nicolas Bourriaud in 1998 in his book Esthétique relationnelle (Relational Aesthetics).  The term was first used in 1996, in the catalogue for the exhibition Traffic curated by Bourriaud at CAPC musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux.  Traffic included the artists that Bourriaud would continue to refer to throughout the 1990s, such as Henry Bond, Vanessa Beecroft, Maurizio Cattelan, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Liam Gillick, Christine Hil, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Miltos Manetas, Philippe Parreno, Jorge Pardo and Rirkrit Tiravanija.”

So my understanding is that relational art is more about how viewers react to the art, or participate in the art, rather than, just observe the art.

As indicated in the photos below, “…probably the most famous practitioner, is Argentinean-born Thai artist Rikrit Tiravanija’s first untitled solo show at 303 Gallery, New York in 1992. During the length of that exhibition, Tiravanija cooked Thai food for visitors in a kitchen set up within the gallery.  The food is the art, but not in the fine cuisine sense: “it is not what you see that is important but what takes place between people,” Tiravanija says.  The communal experience of cooking and eating the food becomes the art.

In my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun found book project, I choose to represent the concept of relational aesthetics by highlighting some of the text in the book that describes why the author choose her topic, and what it means to her and her family, to have a second home.  I then placed the book, open to the highlighted text page, on a table facing a lakeside deck overlooking the water, next to a bottle of wine and some glasses.  Now I’m just waiting for the guests to arrive so that the art can begin!

Site-Specific Art

Just as the name implies, Site-Specific Art is artwork created specifically to exist in a particular place.  The term was first used beginning in the 1970s, when publicly commissioned architectural sculptures were commissioned to enhance urban landscapes.  These installation sculptures, may or may not be incorporated into the physical structure of a building, but they generally are fully integrated into the environment as a permanent component to the landscape.

Worldwide, there are endless examples of site-specific art.  Note that in the example below of a giant clothesline clip, a common household item is representative of contemporary art.  This installation is located in a park in Belgium and certainly enlivens the area with an element of fun and whimsy.

In my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun book project, I choose to present the concept of site-specific art featuring our own statue of George Mason in the center of the George Mason University campus.  Note that I’ve placed my book into the hands of George Mason for his review, thereby including it as part of the sculpture.

Arte Povera

Art Povera literally translated means poor art in Italian.  This style of art first began in Europe in the 1960’s and incorporates inexpensive, commonly available materials, such as stones, fabric or paper.  In other words, the basis of this artistic concept is to make a visual statement using only items immediately available, not that the items were necessarily cheap or that the artwork was poorly created.  That said, Arte Povera tends to be more sculptural in form.  During this period a group of Italian artists were responding to “…the values placed on more established institutions of government, industry, and culture” (Wikipedia).  The Arte Povera movement lasted about a decade, ending in the early 1970s.  

The image below features, “Venus of the Rags” by Michelangelo Pistoletto, and is an example of Arte Povera from 1967.

 

In my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun book project, I choose to present the concept of Arte Povera by inserting a grouping of business cards I had lying around around the house.  Business cards are interesting to collect because they provide a trail through the interactions one has had with people over a period of time.  Also, because no two cards are ever identical, they visually create something of a paper quilt when combined in patterns.  However, the collection also represents something of a charming time capsule as the custom of printing and distributing business cards seems less significant with the availability of more practical and efficient technical tools methods for recording contact information.   

 

 

 

Art Intervention

From Wikipedia: art intervention is an interaction with a previously existing artwork, audience or venue/space. It has the auspice of conceptual art and is commonly a form of performance art. It is associated with the Viennese Actionists, the Dada movement and Neo-Dadaists. It has also been made much use of by the Stuckists to affect perceptions of other artwork which they oppose, and as a protest against an existing intervention.

Intervention can also refer to art which enters a situation outside the art world in an attempt to change the existing conditions there. For example, intervention art may attempt to change economic or political situations, or may attempt to make people aware of a condition that they previously had no knowledge of. Since these goals mean that intervention art necessarily addresses and engages with the public, some artists call their work “public interventions”.

Although intervention by its very nature carries an implication of subversion, it is now accepted as a legitimate form of art and is often carried out with the endorsement of those in positions of authority over the artwork, audience or venue/space to be intervened in. However, unendorsed (i.e. illicit) interventions are common and lead to debate as to the distinction between art and vandalism. By definition it is a challenge, or at the very least a comment, related to the earlier work or the theme of that work, or to the expectations of a particular audience, and more likely to fulfill that function to its full potential when it is unilateral, although in these instances, it is almost certain that it will be viewed by authorities as unwelcome, if not vandalism, and not art.

Art intervention is conceptual art.  The artist intervenes in some type of “normal” process or system as a symbolic gesture to initiate change or to make a statement about an issue through some type of artistic presentation.  Graffiti can be a good example of art intervention. 

Another example is the Trash Project in New York City (NYC).  (http://trashproject.biz/index.php)  Their slogan is to “Change the Ordinary, today.”  To demonstrate this concept, bio-degradable “TRASH” project bags were distributed to NYC neighborhoods to make the task of collecting trash less mundane, and considerably more artful and colorful. 

   

On page 22, in my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun book project, I choose to present the concept of Art Intervention by inserting a couple of speech balloons as well as and an invitation to a game-which I’ve added to the front cover.  After all, what second-home property would be complete without some type of leisure activity?  This is my way of poking fun at the whole concept of a lifestyle that includes the ability to maintain a second home, while most Americans in reality are struggling to maintain a primary residence. 

 

One-Minute Sculpture

Our professor directed the class to bring a camera, and three random objects from home, to discuss during our next class.  No other guidance was provided, so I went home and choose three items from my kitchen; a rolling bin, a small pot, and an herb grinder.  I choose these items because I’m intrigued with kitchen tools.  Each tool has a history, and possibly a pleasant memory attached to it.  Two of the items came from the kitchens of family members who are now passed on, and the third item was a souvenir from a fabulous overseas vacation.  Although, in the end, the reasons for individual selections were not actually discussed in class; I think it’s fun to discuss the collections.

Upon arrival at class the students were briefly introduced to the concept of one-minute sculpture.  The assignment was to quickly convince randomly selected individuals to pose with the objects based on our spontaneous direction.  The one-minute sculptures are very brief, with the only proof of their sculptural existent being documented with a photograph.

The class broke off into small groups, based on who brought in a camera, and headed for the Johnson Center for inspiration.  We were allowed 45 minutes to an hour to return to class with three different photographs, documenting our success.

In the first scenario we convinced one student to use the herb grinder and some paper as if to be feeding information into the head of another, unsuspecting student.

In the next scenario, we convinced a female student to climb upon a short wall, posed with a small pot and a rolling bin, as if she were straddling a horse while jousting.

In the last scenario, we convinced a male student, to lie on a tile floor, wearing ladies high heal shoes, and holding some of the kitchen implements as if he were Mr. Mom having a bad day.  This student was reluctant to have his image posted on the Internet, therefore his face has been obscured.

Estrangement (Verfremdungseffekt)

The term “Estrangement (Verfremdungseffekt) refers to “…the distancing effect, more commonly known (earlier) by John Willett’s 1964 translation the alienation effect or (more recently) as the estrangement effect  (German: Verfremdungseffekt), is a performing arts concept coined by playwright Bertolt Brecht.  Brecht first used the term in an essay on “Alienation Effects in Chinese Acting” published in 1936, in which he described it as “playing in such a way that the audience was hindered from simply identifying itself with the characters in the play.  Acceptance or rejection of their actions and utterances was meant to take place on a conscious plane, instead of, as hitherto, in the audience’s subconscious” Brecht’s term describes the aesthetics of his epic theatre.”  (Wikipedia)

To achieve the estrangement effect, Brecht wrote of, “stripping the event of its self-evident, familiar, obvious quality and creating a sense of astonishment and curiosity about them”.  During theatrical performances, various techniques, such as bright lighting and song interruptions, were used to dissuade the audience from identifying directly with the characters, and therefore lose any attachments to them.  Brecht’s intent was to use theatre as a medium to effect social change.

As in the image below of a stage sketch, harsh lighting is pictured to allow the actor to have direct access to the audience, again to establish emotional and/or psychological distance between the audience and the character that the actor represents.

In my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun book project, I choose to present the concept of Estrangement Effect, by interrupting the perfect pretty picture world of “second-home” living by cutting openings into the front doorway and several windows of one of the house images.  I then inserted a view into several news images of the recent, tragic realities of life in Washington, DC between 16 September and 6 October 2013.

Intertextuality

Intertextuality:  flattery or plagiarism?

The term “intertextuality” was coined by philosopher Julia Kristeva in 1966 and is described as “the shaping of a text meaning by another text.“

Examples of intertexuality are all around us because the idea behind intertextuality is that there are no new ideas.  Well, at least not completely new, completely original ideas.  “Any text (or video, film, image, music, etc.) is the absorption and transformation of another.”  I believe the philosophical meaning of intertextuality is that interpretation is created by the audience, rather than, presented by the creator.  Readers become writers; writers write in relation to prior influences and interconnections to all other media.  The theory suggests that an artful expression is created by the influence of previous work.  The artist intent, whether subtle or blatant, is to make a specific reference to a prior piece.  This is particularly common in the film industry where remakes of prior scripts are frequently updated and re-released [sometimes under new title names such as when An Affair To Remember (1957) was remade into Sleepless in Seattle (1993)].

In the examples below, note the intertexual relationships between Robert Palmer’s, Addicted to Love (1986) and Shania Twain’s, Man I Feel Like A Woman (1999).

Below, The Simpsons are posed as The Brady Bunch.

Although, the intertextual references in the Simpsons are very frequent and well-documented, note another famous carton series, The Flintstones, and its intertextual reference to The Honeymooners. 

As pictured below, Absolut Vodka frequently uses the concept of intertextuality to promote their brand.

In my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun book project, I choose to present the concept of intertextuality by inserting an image of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as a famous quote from Picasso.

Assemblage

Assemblage is an artistic technique, very similar to collage, that combines, or assembles, objects into a piece of artwork.  The result of an assembled piece work of art could contain any variety or combination of objects.  The key difference between assemblage and collage is that assemblage is considered more three-dimensional in structure; although it may not be readily apparent which technique had been applied.

Jean Dubuffet devised the term assemblage in 1953 to describe his butterfly wing creations, which could also be described as collage.

In another example, Glass of Absinthe (1914) by Pablo Picasso, Picasso created a hand-painted bronze cast that he combined with a real spoon.

In my Second Home-Finding Your Place in the Fun book project, I choose to present the assemblage technique on a page titled, Preserving the Past.  I choose to embellish this concept with the additions of an image of a reflecting pool, a snippet from a 2013 calendar, a save-the-date magnet and a blue bow from my daughter’s wedding, and a prayer card from the memorial service of a dear friend lost in the recent Washington Navy Yard massacre.  I think it’s crucial to our happiness that we keep the important connections that we define for ourselves preserved in some form or fashion.

Negative Space

There’s nothing negative about negative space!  According to Wikipedia, negative space in the visual arts, “…is the space around and between the subject(s) of an image.  Negative space may be most evident when the space around a subject, and not the subject itself, forms an interesting or artistically relevant shape, and such space is occasionally used to artistic effect as the “real” subject of an image.”

The negative space surrounding a positive space provides balance and a strong graphic component to an image.  Negative space can also be used to illustrate optical illusions as well.  It’s often difficult to determine, when looking at the foreground and the background, which is which, as the images flip-flop between foreground and background.  One of the more famous examples of this technique is in Edgar Rubin’s, vase, below. 

 

The creative application of negative space in advertising can provide especially stunning images.  See the examples below. 

 

 

 

I have always admired this concept because of its effectiveness and simplicity.  In my book project assignment, I choose to present the negative space technique by revealing the shape of a palm against one of the water image pages in the book.

Automatism

Au-tom-a-tism [aw-tom–uh-tiz-uhm].  “A method of producing pictorial art, as paintings and collages, associated chiefly with the dadaists and surrealists, in which the artist strives to allow the impulses of the unconscious to guide the hand in matters of line, color, and structure without the interference of conscious choice.”

An example of automatic art would include the ink drawing below by Andre Masson (1924).  Masson would force himself into a state of semi-consciousness by taking drugs or depriving himself of food and sleep.  Surrealistic or automatic artists believed their artwork would be enhanced if they were not encumbered by rational control.

I have made a (sober) attempt at automatism, using the cutting technique, to use text to play with the word “second” from the book’s title, Second Home.  I have attached my words to the inside cover image, arranged in the shape of a clock.