18 Ekim 2014 Cumartesi

Art - Space - Public II

According to Alan Gilbert, there is a certain relation between politics and imagination that determine artworks effect on public realm. The gesture of artist makes an artwork shallow, didactic, arrogant or poetic, subtle, sublime, magical. Discussions about transformative experiences and political statement of artworks, during the previous class made me wander the similarities and diversities between the experience of politically and socially engaged artworks and the experience for experience’s sake oriented ones.
The experience of artwork has different dimensions. For public art, The artist experiences it in real time by producing it within his/her own perspective, the audience in the public space experiences it individually or collaboratively by participating, the audience of the documentation of the work, experiences it later on by observing the “actual” participants within a timeless and spaceless context. It can be claimed it is easier to be convinced the transformative or the magical power of experience -if there is one- for someone who directly interacted with it. The interaction itself powerful enough to make someone feel special and important, to feel as a part of something extraordinary in an ordinary life, yet for the one who perceives it through a photograph, video or installation it is harder to do and requires something deeper and sophisticated to relate in that timeless and spaceless moment.
Joseph Beuys, Ausfegen (Sweeping Up), May 1st, 1972


Nicolas Bourriaud defines the concept of  Relational Aesthethics 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 common issues that provoke and stimulate an individual in a very primitive way and used by many artists after 1960's such as gender, minority, migration, identity, ethics, labor can be considered as a part of that set. Animal rights, human rights and "right to the city" can be added to them as well. The issues that become medium in the mediumless-ness of contemporary art. They are not the titles of political messages that flow from artist to audience through the artwork, nor life lessons to be taught. They are the motivation behind the artwork that occurs to the artist, the experience and concerns of the artist about something greater than some inner struggles or existentialistic breakdowns. It is not necessarily pessimistic and dark attitude to look over the human kind, but it is a critical eye. It is not something that has been done to change the world and make it a better place but something that people who perceives it can understand and figure out the reasons their ungratefulness’ or gratefulness’ in order to be transformed.


1 yorum:

  1. "there is an unbreakable relation between political and poetic artwork that determine its effect on public realm." says who? This is an "opinion" or a "assumption" that could probably be very easily be challenged. So, you would need to have references to back up what you are saying here. And not only should you have references to back this up, but also reference from authors who say the opposite. What about a poet like Fernando Pessoa?

    “I don’t have ambitions or desires.
    Being a poet isn’t my ambition,
    It’s my way of being alone.”

    "What do I think about the world?
    I have no idea what I think about the world!
    If I get sick I’ll think about that stuff."

    He is generally assumed to be one of the biggest poets of the 20th century:
    http://alberto-caeiro.blogspot.com.br/

    "The common issues that provoke and stimulate every sane and conscious human being... etc etc" - again this is a huge assumption. Especially with the word "every" in the sentence. I would hazard to guess that most sane and conscious people have entirely different issues. Such as making money for example... Such as fear of death, for example... Such as personal health, for example... I could extend this list infinitely, you know?

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