Relational art and audience involvement: poetic approaches from 1960-70s at the 27th São Paulo Art Biennial

Abstract

The concept of Relational Aesthetics is based on a poetic construction centered on human and social relationships, and it is usually thought outside the artistic institutions environment. This kind of practice gets stronger in the 1960s and the 1970s, and it stands out on the poetry of the artist Hélio Oiticica, mainly on his work entitled Parangolé. However, the conceptualization of this theme happens only in 1990, by the french critic Nicolas Bourriaud, who disregards Oiticica’s work, focusing his analysis on the work of European artists from the end of the 20th Century. Finally, although these poetic intentions refer from the 1960s, they were institutionally celebrated inside the Brazilian scene only in 2006, at the 27th São Paulo Biennial. This article seeks, therefore, to reflect upon these conceptual mismatches and the different temporalities that runs through the three above-mentioned events.