Halsey Talks: Relational Aesthetics

Event Details

Beginning at 7:00 PM on Monday, April 19, join the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art for the next Halsey Talks event.

Halsey Talks are an ongoing series of roundtable discussions on intriguing concepts in art. While they may take advantage of exhibitions on view at the Halsey Institute, they are open-ended in nature. As a platform for a deeper understanding and discussion of fascinating ideas in art, Halsey Talks are open to all.

Often when we see a work of art, such as a painting, the autonomy of the work is hard to resist. A painting continues to be a painting, even when we aren't there to see it. But when we do see it, we see it much differently from others due to our own personal perspectives and biases.

So what's to say that this interaction between viewer and painting is not part of the work itself? And if so, can we construct works of art solely out of these interactions? If a painting is just an arrangement of paints functioning as art, why can't an artwork's media consist of social interaction?

In this Halsey Talks, we will explore relational aesthetics. Writing in his 1998 book, curator Nicolas Bourriaud theorized relational aesthetics as the creation of social interactions by artists as art. We will discuss a few seminal instances of relational aesthetics and examine how the concept is connected - or not - to more traditional works of art.

Free admission for all, but RSVP is required. RSVP to [email protected] for Zoom link and passcode.