Relational Aesthetics
The term “relational aesthetics” is coined by French critic and curator Nicolas Bourriaud. He considers relational aesthetics an art form, which encompasses “a set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social context.” Moreover, he asserts that “art is a state of encounter” and claims that “the role of artworks is no longer to form imaginary and utopian realities, but to actually be ways of living and models of action within the existing real.”
In Taiwan, the discourse about relational aesthetics has germinated since 2002, and reached its peak around the period when Bourriaud served as the curator of “Taipei Biennial 2014 : The Great Acceleration—Art in the Anthropocene “ and when artist LEE Mingwei presented his solo exhibition “Lee Mingwei and His Relations: The Art of Participation” (2015).
Relational Aesthetics was published in 1998, and its English version met the world four years later. In 2004, British art critic Claire BISHOP published an article “Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics,” critiquing Bourriaud has overly emphasized on community as a congenial subject in Relational Aesthetics and ignored the compromises and conflicts in the working of a community. Regarding the criticism, Bourriaud published The Radicant in 2009 as a response, in which he contends that the form of artworks demonstrating relational aesthetics does not simply and directly incorporate social relations into the works but rather shows how contemporary social relations are dealt with while tackling political and ethical issues in the works. In The Nightmare of Participation: Crossbench Praxis as a Mode of Criticality, published in 2010, Markus MIESSEN borrows the idea of political science and discusses the concept of conflicting participation, “collaboration,” to expand the previous discourse—“in contrast to cooperation, collaboration is driven by complex realities rather than romantic notions of a common ground or commonality. It is an ambivalent process constituted by a set of paradoxical relationships between co-producers who affect each other.”
Artworks embodying relational aesthetics are often characteristically collaborative, participatory and dialogic, for instance LEE Mingwei’s The Sleeping Project (2003) and The Dining Project (1998); HUANG Po-Chih’s Production Line - Made in China & Made in Taiwan (2014) and more. In recent years, as local issues have gained more attention and the method of field study has been extensively employed, the discussion of relational aesthetics has started to integrate with local relational culture, which can be observed in various exhibitions, including “Kau-Puê, Mutual Companionship in Near Future: 2017 Soulangh International Contemporary Art Festival,” “Wild Rhizome: 2018 Taiwan Biennial,” and “The Strangers from beyond the Mountain and the Sea: 2019 Asian Art Biennial.”
Reference
In Taiwan, the discourse about relational aesthetics has germinated since 2002, and reached its peak around the period when Bourriaud served as the curator of “Taipei Biennial 2014 : The Great Acceleration—Art in the Anthropocene “ and when artist LEE Mingwei presented his solo exhibition “Lee Mingwei and His Relations: The Art of Participation” (2015).
Relational Aesthetics was published in 1998, and its English version met the world four years later. In 2004, British art critic Claire BISHOP published an article “Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics,” critiquing Bourriaud has overly emphasized on community as a congenial subject in Relational Aesthetics and ignored the compromises and conflicts in the working of a community. Regarding the criticism, Bourriaud published The Radicant in 2009 as a response, in which he contends that the form of artworks demonstrating relational aesthetics does not simply and directly incorporate social relations into the works but rather shows how contemporary social relations are dealt with while tackling political and ethical issues in the works. In The Nightmare of Participation: Crossbench Praxis as a Mode of Criticality, published in 2010, Markus MIESSEN borrows the idea of political science and discusses the concept of conflicting participation, “collaboration,” to expand the previous discourse—“in contrast to cooperation, collaboration is driven by complex realities rather than romantic notions of a common ground or commonality. It is an ambivalent process constituted by a set of paradoxical relationships between co-producers who affect each other.”
Artworks embodying relational aesthetics are often characteristically collaborative, participatory and dialogic, for instance LEE Mingwei’s The Sleeping Project (2003) and The Dining Project (1998); HUANG Po-Chih’s Production Line - Made in China & Made in Taiwan (2014) and more. In recent years, as local issues have gained more attention and the method of field study has been extensively employed, the discussion of relational aesthetics has started to integrate with local relational culture, which can be observed in various exhibitions, including “Kau-Puê, Mutual Companionship in Near Future: 2017 Soulangh International Contemporary Art Festival,” “Wild Rhizome: 2018 Taiwan Biennial,” and “The Strangers from beyond the Mountain and the Sea: 2019 Asian Art Biennial.”
Reference
- Bourriaud, Nicolas. Relational Aesthetics. Trans. Huang Chien-Hung. Beijing: Gold Wall Press, 2013.
- Bourriaud, Nicolas. Postproduction. Trans. Xiong Wen-Xi. Beijing: Gold Wall Press, 2014.
- Miessen, Markus. The Nightmare of Participation. Trans. Anthony Yung. Beijing: Gold Wall Press, 2012.
- Bourriaud, Nicolas. Curatorial essay of The Great Acceleration: Taipei Biennial. 2014.
- Yeh, Yu-Husan and Chang Tieh-Chih. “From Kau-Puê to Wild Rhizome: Gong Jow-Jiun on Oscillating between Contemporary Art and Folk Belief.” Fountain, no. 8 (2018.11.03).
- ishop, Claire. “Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics.” October, no. 110, fall (2004), pp. 51-79.
關係美學（Relational Aesthetics）
關係美學一詞由法國評論家兼策展人尼可拉．布希歐提出。他認為，關係美學作為一種藝術形式，應該包含了「一系列的藝術實踐，將人與人之間的關係及其社會環境作為理論與實踐的出發點」、「藝術就是一種會面狀態」、「藝術的作用不再是形成虛構或烏托邦式的現實，而是實際上成為現實的生活與行為指引。」。
臺灣對於關係美學的討論約從2002年開始，在由尼可拉．布希歐擔任策展人的台北雙年展「劇烈加速度：藝術在『人類世』」（2014），與藝術家李明維的個展「李明維與他的關係」（2015）前後達到高峰。
《關係美學》一書於1998年出版，英文版在4年後問世，2004年英國藝評克萊兒．畢莎普發表了〈對抗與關係美學〉一文，批判關係美學當中過於強調社群作為一和諧的主體，而忽略了社群運作當中的妥協與衝突。面對批評，尼可拉．布希歐在2009年出版的著作《根莖植物》中提出回應。他認為，關係美學的作品形式，並非單純直接地援引社會關係到作品當中，而是對於當代社會關係形式的處理，並且在作品當中面對政治及倫理議題。在馬庫斯．米森2010年出版的《參與的惡夢》裡，他借用政治學的概念， 轉引佛羅倫．史耐德的〈協力：諸眾的黑暗場域〉探討衝突性的參與概念：「協力」（collaboration），擴延了前述的討論：「與合作（cooperation）相比，協力（collaboration）的原因是複雜的現實，而非對於共同處境和共同性的浪漫想像。這是一個矛盾的過程，由互相影響的各個參與者之間一系列矛盾的關係所構成。」。
關係美學的作品經常帶著合作的（collaborative）、參與性的（participatory）、對話性的（dialogic）等特質出現，如李明維的《睡寢計畫》（2003）、《晚餐計畫》（1998）以及黃博志的《生產線–中國製造＆台灣製造》（2014）等。近年來，隨著在地議題的關注與田野調查方法的廣泛使用，關係美學的討論接續了在地的關係文化，如展覽「近未來的交陪：2017蕭壠國際當代藝術節」（2017）、台灣美術雙年展「野根莖」（2018）及亞洲藝術雙年展「來自山與海的異人」（2019）等。
參考文獻
1. 尼可拉．布希歐，《關係美學》，黃建宏譯，金城出版社，2013。
2. 尼可拉．布希歐，《後製品》，熊雯曦譯，金城出版社，2014。
3. 馬庫斯．米森，《參與的惡夢》，翁子健譯，金城出版社，2012。
4. 尼可拉．布希歐，台北雙年展「劇烈加速度」策展專文，2014。
5. 葉宇萱、張鐵志，〈從交陪境到野根莖：龔卓軍談當代藝術與民俗信仰的往返〉，新活水雜誌，第八期，2018.11.03
6. 克萊兒．畢莎普， 〈對立主義及關係美學〉“Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics”, October, no.110, fall 2004, p.51-79.
臺灣對於關係美學的討論約從2002年開始，在由尼可拉．布希歐擔任策展人的台北雙年展「劇烈加速度：藝術在『人類世』」（2014），與藝術家李明維的個展「李明維與他的關係」（2015）前後達到高峰。
《關係美學》一書於1998年出版，英文版在4年後問世，2004年英國藝評克萊兒．畢莎普發表了〈對抗與關係美學〉一文，批判關係美學當中過於強調社群作為一和諧的主體，而忽略了社群運作當中的妥協與衝突。面對批評，尼可拉．布希歐在2009年出版的著作《根莖植物》中提出回應。他認為，關係美學的作品形式，並非單純直接地援引社會關係到作品當中，而是對於當代社會關係形式的處理，並且在作品當中面對政治及倫理議題。在馬庫斯．米森2010年出版的《參與的惡夢》裡，他借用政治學的概念， 轉引佛羅倫．史耐德的〈協力：諸眾的黑暗場域〉探討衝突性的參與概念：「協力」（collaboration），擴延了前述的討論：「與合作（cooperation）相比，協力（collaboration）的原因是複雜的現實，而非對於共同處境和共同性的浪漫想像。這是一個矛盾的過程，由互相影響的各個參與者之間一系列矛盾的關係所構成。」。
關係美學的作品經常帶著合作的（collaborative）、參與性的（participatory）、對話性的（dialogic）等特質出現，如李明維的《睡寢計畫》（2003）、《晚餐計畫》（1998）以及黃博志的《生產線–中國製造＆台灣製造》（2014）等。近年來，隨著在地議題的關注與田野調查方法的廣泛使用，關係美學的討論接續了在地的關係文化，如展覽「近未來的交陪：2017蕭壠國際當代藝術節」（2017）、台灣美術雙年展「野根莖」（2018）及亞洲藝術雙年展「來自山與海的異人」（2019）等。
參考文獻
1. 尼可拉．布希歐，《關係美學》，黃建宏譯，金城出版社，2013。
2. 尼可拉．布希歐，《後製品》，熊雯曦譯，金城出版社，2014。
3. 馬庫斯．米森，《參與的惡夢》，翁子健譯，金城出版社，2012。
4. 尼可拉．布希歐，台北雙年展「劇烈加速度」策展專文，2014。
5. 葉宇萱、張鐵志，〈從交陪境到野根莖：龔卓軍談當代藝術與民俗信仰的往返〉，新活水雜誌，第八期，2018.11.03
6. 克萊兒．畢莎普， 〈對立主義及關係美學〉“Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics”, October, no.110, fall 2004, p.51-79.