Bourriaud defines as ‘relational’ art which takes as its theoretical horizon ‘the realm of human interactions and its social context,
rather than the assertion of an independent and private symbolic space’. In other words, relational art seeks to establish inter-
subjective encounters that literally take place – in the artist’s production of the work, or in the viewer’s reception of it – or which
exist hypothetically, as a potential outcome of our encounter with a given piece. In relational art, meaning is said to be elaborated
collectively (p18) rather than in the space of individual consumption. Relational art is thus conceived as the inverse of the
privatised space of modernism as articulated differently by Greenberg and Krauss: rather than a discrete, portable, autonomous
work of art that transcends its context, relational art beholden to the contingencies of its environment and audience. In some
manifestations of this art, such as performance-installations, viewers are addressed as a social entity, and are even given the
wherewithal to create a community, however provisional or utopian.
Today's Art Practise" N Bourriaud
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Art is an encounter.
Embodying the uncontainable and elastic nature of contemporary art, The Web Project creates situations that invite spectators to
become active participants, in dialogue with both their context and each other. Encompassing the sphere of human interactions and
it’s social context, installation sites become convergence points, introducing a time to be experienced and encountered by all walks of
life, opening a dialogue that never ends.
From 'Relational Art', by Nicolas Bourriaud:
Artwork as social interstice:
The possibility of a 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. To sketch a sociology of this, this evolution stems essentially from the
birth of a world-wide urban culture, and from the extension of this city model to more or less all
cultural phenomena. The general growth of towns and cities, which took off at the end of the
Second World War, gave rise not only to an extraordinary upsurge of social exchanges, but also
to much greater individual mobility (through the development of networks and roads, and
telecommunications, and the gradual freeing-up of isolated places, going with the opening-up of
attitudes). Because of the crampedness of dwelling spaces in this urban world, there was, in
tandem, a scaling-down of furniture and objects, now emphasising a greater manoeuvrability. If,
for a long period of time, the artwork has managed to come across as a luxury, lordly item in this
urban setting (the dimensions of the work, as well as those of the apartment, helping to
distinguish between their owner and the crowd), the development of the function of artworks and
the way they are shown attest to a growing urbanisation of the artistic experiment. What is
collapsing before our very eyes is nothing other than this falsely aristocratic conception of the
arrangement of works of art, associated with the feeling of territorial acquisition. In other words,
it is no longer possible to regard the contemporary work as a space to be walked through (the
"owner's tour" is akin to the collector's). It is henceforth presented as a period of time to be lived
through, like an opening to unlimited discussion. The city has ushered in and spread the hands-
on experience: it is the tangible symbol and historical setting of the state of society, that "state of
encounter imposed on people"
notes:
Relational Art is an emerging movement in art identified by Nicolas Bourriaud, a French philosopher, who recognized a growing number
of contemporary artists used performative and interactive techniques that rely on the responses of others: pedestrians, shoppers,
browsers—the casual observer-turned-participant. As an art critic, Bourriaud has reviewed many internationally renowned exhibitions
and performances. Over the course of writing editorials for the French magazine Documents sur l’Art, Bourriaud came to term what he
was seeing—more accurately, experiencing—as a movement in Relational Art. Bringing together his many essays on the subject of these
artists and their activities, Nicolas Bourriaud, in 1998, launched his theory and book entitled Relational Aesthetics. While art critics,
theoreticians, and historians have argued whether Nicolas Bourriaud was accurate in naming what he was seeing as a new movement—
or, even a movement at all—artists have been busy carrying out their relational activities.
Bourriaud observed something different in the art practices of today. Artists across all disciplines were collapsing the distance between
their art form and the average citizen. No longer were actors up on stages telling stories at people. Now, the stage was gone and the actor
was merging into the general public and the “story” was theirs to tell. The artist no longer clung to making objects that were set before an
adoring gallery visitor, instead the artist merged into a cyber world prompting an anonymous, global public to interact through
telepresence. Now, musicians are innovators, designing and creating new musical instruments, software and compositions that prompt
the random passerby to interact, conduct and perform a musical piece that is uniquely their own. While artists have long since
challenged the constrictions of museums, stages, and performance halls, Bourriaud observed a significant turn in context and meaning.
In relational art, the artist is no longer at the center. They are no longer the soul creator, the master or even celebrity. The artist, instead,
is the catalyst. They kick-start a question, frame a point of consideration, or highlight an everyday moment. And then, they wait. They
wait for a response from the random stranger, the passerby, the usual suspect—you and me. We are the missing piece and until we react,
respond or relate, the “art” lies in wait to say: “Happy to meet you. I’ve been waiting for you.”
To Bourriaud’s mind, and the artists who’s aesthetic is you and I, the relational aspect of their activities is the fundamental difference
between today’s art experience and previous art activities such as Fluxist, Happenings and Performance Art to name a few. Moreover,
today’s relational art emerges from the profound and ever-changing impact of media technologies. Technologies capable of sending us
into spaces that are inhabited by anonymous, disembodied others—the good, bad, and ugly—but who we can nevertheless relate to
through this technology. Whether relational artists are high tech or low tech, what Bourriaud insists they have in common is the desire
and intention to relate across the artificiality of time and space whether physical, social or institutional space.
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Mission of The Web Project:
To pursue innovation in form and context in multidisciplinary art as it relates to community, social issues, and public space.
Dedication to merging the arts with everyday life through the study of contemporary psychogeography: how emerging artistic,
technological, and social practice is evolving the urban landscape.
To promote the dialogue between art, the humanities, science, business and other professional endeavors, as it no longer considers the
arts, science and business as separate, discrete activities. Instead, these areas can be seen as complementary to one another and their
combination holds the potential to create a dynamic and fruitful exchange.
The interaction between people from different backgrounds and the transfer of experience and knowledge between the various
disciplines are the basis for synergies of artistic education and community.
The Web Project is a lifelong process of many works. The first is a series of large-scale elastic structures for pedestrians to interact with,
comprised of tens of thousands of rubber bands woven together, connecting architecture to the existing structures in a public space.
The works are larger than life size, creating a new environment within the existing identifiable urban environment.
Being integrated into the daily lives of the public, the works will be encountered and experienced by unintended viewers such as
pedestrians, workers and passerby.
The projects include the public as part of the process, creating the opportunity to interact and collaborate with people from all walks of
life; People that would not experience the work if it were in the walls of a confined space, now become part of the piece.
Posing a linkage between live performance, interaction and dialogue, the installations are a both a response to and initiator of
community, social issues, and public space. The works are a performance with the public. The pedestrian is the performer.
I am altering the space and time that one may take for granted or view as predictable. For example, if one takes the same route
commuting to and from work at the same time everyday, and this action over time becomes repetitive, The Web Project creates a new
experience. The pedestrian now can choose how they would like to reinvent their interaction with the space. They may duck, test the
elastic tenacity, dance through elasticity wrapping it around their body, bounce off of it or even destroy it.
If one is walking unaware, they will soon become aware of the space that they're dancing with to navigate through the city.
Imagine a world where intersection erodes estrangement…..and unity weaves it’s web…
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