Relational Art

Relational art is a type of art that was originally observed and highlighted by French art critic Nicolas Bourriaud; he defined this mode of fine art 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". Interactive or participatory art of various kinds emerged as a distinct and important strand within fine art practice in the 1990s. Arguably, it anticipated the rise of the Internet and reality TV, which, in the mainstream media are comparable phenomena, at least in the way they appear to flatten the hierarchy between consumer and producer.This type of art is allowed to grow and blossom in the audience that it is presented in. The goal is to make the audience the community and where onlookers of the art can interact with the shared activity. Artists such as Marcus Coates practices a form of relational art by tapping into the psych of animals to acquire knowledge from the earth. This knowledge is then translated to understand society and to relate to current issues. Moreover, relational art is seen in other forms by taking moments in current history and making them into works of art.

The above piece of art is an interactive piece where onlookers can change the lighting on the panel any way they wish. It is strange to consider this artwork because it looks like just a game; come to think of it interactive art is more common than I thought.