Relational aesthetic

Where does our current obsession for interactivity stem from ?

After the consumer society and the communication era, does art still contribute to the emergence of a rational society ?

Nicolas Bourriaud attempts to renew our approach toward contemporary art by getting as close as possible to the artists' works, and by revealing the principles that structure their thoughts : an aesthetic of the inter-human, of the encounter ; of proximity, of resisting social formatting.

The aim of his essay is to produce the tools to enable us to understand the evolution of today's art. We meet Felix Gonzalez-Torres and Louis Althusser, Rirkrit Tiravanija or Felix Guattari, along with most of today's practising creative artists.