Taking place in the skies over London, the plazas of Rotterdam, and the
hallways of museums worldwide, a new kind of art has emerged since the
1990s. Known as Relational Art, this controversial practice features
audience participation in ways never before realised, often using new
media and social networking. In this book, academic and artist Craig
Smith outlines a rigorous theory of Relational Art, explaining why
audience interaction and collective art production has become so
relevant. He traces the movement from its beginnings with the Traffic
exhibition and Nicolas Bourriaud's treatise Relational Aesthetics to the
diverse and international scope of Relational Art today. Moving through
a range of case studies, such as Olafur Eliasson's iconic Weather
Project at Tate Modern, this book also reveals how Relational Art has
affected the aesthetic, theoretical and economic forces shaping
twenty-first century art. Craig Smith brings together ideas from
artists, art critics, curators, philosophers and audience members to
illuminate how Relational Art works are conceived, realised and
experienced. Through a guided tour of thought-provoking and influential
works, he demonstrates that Relational Art has permanently altered the
nature of art and its global audiences.
