At first glance, it seems the goal is to
create limitlessness to the engagement
of the community to an artwork or rather
a collaboration of the artist and
audience that benefits the community.
And yet the community has a mind of it's
own, readily involving themselves in an
artwork or simply reject it outright. This
to me makes me think of variables in a
science experiment.

artist, artwork
artist, area
artist, audience
artwork, area
artwork, audience
area, audience

These relationships are the variables of
the art world, each pulling at each
other, outweighing, cancelling,
balancing - it never remains static but
in constant dialogue. The meaning and
value of a work is dependent on all these
factors, each driven by its own history
and reality.

others' words

“Our speech, that is, all our utterances (including creative works), is filled with others’ words, varying degrees of otherness or varying degrees of ‘our-own-ness’” - Bakhtin

Bakhtin embraces the concept that a creative work is not singular or speaks of a solitary idea, but is a collection gathered by the creator from different sources and combined with the individual's own thoughts. Bakhtin may be refering to literary theory, yet his ideas are being discussed within an art context - a fantastic example of dialogue between two collectives.

Dialogical works such as WochenKlausur's 'Intervention to Aid Drug-addicted Women' is a great literal translation of Bakhtin's theories - it embodies a discourse that is contributed to by politicians, journalists, sex workers and activists alike, that is non-authoritative but highly political.

this is a false situation

“...one aspect of the construction of situations was an endeavour to thwart the fixation of the relationships between the stage and the audience space, between actors and observers.”

The construction of situations reminds me of Masquerade, where masks were used to conceal the participant’s identity thereby causing an equal social standing amongst all those at the celebrations. This was emphasised by the idea that both a king and a peasant would at a social equilibrium within such a situation. Yet there is an inherent understanding that after the last drop of wine had been consumed and the masks taken off, a king would return to being a king and a peasant, a peasant. Within these formed environments is a sense of false democracy, though the lines between the artist and audience are frequently crossed within social spaces, the change in relationship will not necessarily extend beyond that space.

this is instituational?

Art is....

“[Art is] ‘a way to explore other possibilities of exchange’ (Huyghe).”
“[Art is] a model of ‘living well’ (Tiravanija).”
“[Art is] a means of being ‘together in the everyday’ (Orozco).”
“[Art is] a ‘never-ending construction site’ (Hirschhorn).”
“[Art is] ‘an ensemble of units to be reactivated by the beholder-manipulator’ (Bourriaud).”

Each of these quotes from Hal Foster’s ‘Arty Party’ makes me question my understanding of what art is within my own work. It is interesting juggling the fact that my practice is very object-orientated (jewellery and object design) and my desire to expand it beyond ‘the object’ – to make it a insignificant aspect of a largely social work. To do this I feel my first step is to appreciate the convival characteristics of an object and allow this seed to grow around it, eventually obscuring said object from acknowledgement by the audience as a stand-alone artwork (if there ever was such a thing).

the "art coefficient"

a quick overview of Duchamp's 'the creative act' that discusses the 'art coefficient' referred to by Bourriaud.

- the artist creates, however the audience dictates whether or not the artist has any social value which will ultimately define the artwork's position in the art world.

- artists may dispute the concept that the validity of an artwork is not dictated by the artist, regardless of historical evidence that the quality of a work of art has been repeatedly judged disregarding any conscious comments of the artist.

- if the artist's role in artwork judgement no longer exists, how does critical response to their art exist?

- the 'art coefficient' is a device that produces all art, the missing puzzle piece relating that which the artist has intended and what they have not.

- artworks created are considered to be à l'état brut (raw art) and are cultivated through the audience's critical engagement.

- the creative act is therefore a collaboration of both artist and audience.