Micro utopias of the quotidian, meeting spaces in relational art: an approach to some performances of Marina Abramović and Tino Sehgal

Abstract

This paper analyses the concept of relational aesthetics proposed by Nicolas Bourriaud considering the close connections of some performative art practices with the active participation of the spectator in the creation of «constructed situations». I will examine a range on actions of Marina Abramović and Tino Sehgal, in which the audience becomes one of the main agents: stressing the relationship between creator and spectator, between individual and collective experience. Under such premises art shows the will to move, to touch, to affect deeply, connecting the public with the private sphere. Within these parameters, the work of art emerges in the interstices of society as a tool to outline new ways of creating relations, which Bourriaud termed «utopias of proximity» or «micro-utopias». Such situations understand creation as a device to give food for thought and encourage dialogue and critical thinking.