Abstract

The notion of “relational aesthetics” was created by Nicolas Bourriaud in 1995 to describe the new artistic phenomena of the nineties. According to Bourriaud the manifestations of relational art create temporary communities, thus turning art into a social laboratory. This paper investigates the communities arising through these artistic endeavors. My hypothesis is that the empty communities motivated solely by the artistic event are not more consistent than the audience of a play or a performance, furthermore, they do not transcend the elite public of galleries and exhibitions. On the other hand, when the artistic endeavor expresses a social message in addition to the artistic purpose, the possibility of real – though, also temporary – communities arises.