2011 mass ornament social practice

Relational (aesthetics)Aesthetic theory consisting in judging artworks on the basis of the inter-human relations which they represent, produce or prompt.

Relational (art)A set of artistic practices which take as their theoretical and practical point of departure the whole of human relations and their social contexts, rather than an independent and private space.

FROM MASS ORNAMENT TO THEMASSES: THE SHIFT FROMRELATIONAL AESTHETICS TOSOCIAL AND PUBLIC PRACTICE

Images left to right: Rirkrit Tiravanija, Exhibition View,Secession, 2002. Harrell Fletcher, Lawn Sculptures.Portland, Oregon, 2002.

Developments in Relational Aesthetics

Encounters in the Socialverse: Community and Collaborative Art Practices

2005

1998

1994

Top left and right, installation views of Rirkrit Tiravanija's 'Untitled 1992 (Free)' (re-created 2007). Above left and right, installation views of 'Untitled 1992 (Free)' and a re-creation of Gordon Matta-Clark's 1972 piece 'Open House' (2007), all at David Zwirner Gallery.

(Photo: Clockwise from bottom right, courtesy of David Zwirner/Gavin Brown's Enterprise and Ron Amstutz/David Zwirner/Gavin Brown's Enterprise)

Felix Gonzalez-Torresuntitled (placebo)1991

Felix Gonzalez-Torresuntitled (loverboy)1991

Liam Gillickʼs ʻThe State of Itself Becomes a Super Whatnotʼ

Liam GillickDispersed Discussion Structure2006

The Roof is On Fire Suzanne Lacy, Annice Jacoby, Chris Johnson (Oakland 1993-4)

Gallery HERE 1993-95Oakland CA

Social PracticesOverview: The Field of Social Practices

Social practices incorporates art strategies as diverse as urban interventions, utopian proposals, guerrilla architecture, "new genre" public art, social sculpture, project-based community practice, interactive media, service dispersals, and street performance. The field focuses on topics such as aesthetics, ethics, collaboration, persona, media strategies, and social activism, issues that are central to artworks and projects that cross into public and social spheres. These varied forms of public strategy are linked critically through theories of relational art, social formation, pluralism, and democracy. Artists working within these modalities either choose to co-create their work with a specific audience or propose critical interventions within existing social systems that inspire debate or catalyze social exchange.

Social practice starts and ends not in rarified spaces, but out in theworld, although there are intersections with studios/galleries whennecessary or appropriate. Social practice is not restricted to anymedium, but instead uses various forms, methods, and approaches as thesituation dictates; any combination of media might be used in thecreation of a project. Sometimes social practice might look more likesociology, anthropology, social work, journalism, community outreach,or environmentalism than art, yet it retains the original intention ofcreating significance, engagement, and/or accountability between theaudience and artist more than conventional art does.

There are as many possible projects as there are people and lifesituations to work with. In some ways a social practice artist is adocumentarian with agency. Instead of recording what is happening inthe world, the social practice artist is also affecting the world,setting things in motion, fostering connections between people, andorganizing everyday life so that it can be seen as engaging andmeaningful. In this way the artist becomes engaged on a new level withthe artist's target audience as well as issues related to life.

The new Art and Social Practice MFA at Portland State University is atwo year program that will educate and activate students to developand utilize their artistic skills to engage in society and transcendtraditional studio art paradigms. Students will learn about a varietyof working artists and non-artists who have engaged in civic activity,and will apply their knowledge and abilities to initiate, develop, andcomplete projects with the public - individuals, groups, andinstitutions. Collaboration is highly encouraged.

-Harrell Fletcher

Graduate Public Practice

The program, under the leadership of Suzanne Lacy, the renowned artist, educator, theorist of socially engaged public art and author of the influential Mapping the Terrain: New Genre Public Art, enriches an arts environment marked by a remarkable mix of art schools and a distinguished history of artistic innovation.

Current students are working on a project in California's San Joaquin Valley, centered in Laton. The project is supported by a planning grant from the Ford Foundation, and focuses on the environment (some of the worst air quality nationally), the poverty (some of the highest poverty and school drop-out rates nationally), the economics of food production (especially vis-a-vis ever-increasing energy prices), and the loss of farmland (which also impacts housing).

Students from the PSU Social Practice program, Otis Public Practice and CCA Social Practice participating at a panel at the SFMoMA title Social Practice West.

http://socialpractice.org/

Harrell FletcherStreet Selections 2003The Drawing CenterNew York, NY

A xerox publication called The Report. It is a template filled with dictated notes and drawings from conversations Fletcher had with various interesting individuals. Each issue focuses on one person. For the Drawing Center show he exhibited fifteen issues that were then reproduced and gave out for free in both the gallery and in five neighborhood locations.

Otis College Public PracticeSan Joaquin Valley IntitiativeLed by Suzanne Lacey 2009

There is No Two Without Three2008 Published by the Social Practice MFA concentrationat the California College of the Arts

Liam Gillick2008

Some People We Met... 1996Richmond Arts CenterRichmond CA

“THE EVENT IS YOU.

I REPEAT.THE

EVENT IS YOU.”