25 April 2007

Relational aesthetics

I've recently picked up a copy of Bourriaud's Relational Aesthetics, which is a great read for thirsty minds. Proposing art is relational at its core (taking impetus from Althusser and Marx), Bourriaud spins a fresh scent around modernity, urbanization, and the role of art in current societal developments. He's writing as one of those revered thinkers in France, and as so often, his book was translated into English several years after it was originally published.

I'm interested in Bourriard's take on the legitimacy of art in a mechanicalized world. This is not new, and Walter Benjamin tumbles to mind as an early songbird in this regard (anyway, Bourriard says the 'new' does not factor as a criterion for art anymore - a cool relief.) Here's what he notices: If the world continues along the line of increased machinery, human interaction will be increasingly restricted. He sees contemporary art as aloe on the burn of mechanization and asserts contemporary art provides intersticial opportunities. Contemporary art is a buffer zone of time and space in which interaction (relational engagement) can take place, and interaction between humans and art (humans and humans; art and humans) becomes a form of special 'limited time only' chance, therefore still commodified but in a radically different way.

This goes to reinforce Bourriard's understanding of the relational in art - that contemporary art serves to look at things not only in a different way, but through a whole set of new categories, new forms of paradigm shifts that collide with earlier modernist understandings of art. He believes we are not out of modernity, but we are in a different form of modernity, a form developed through a pile-up of encounters that beg borrow and steal a renewed take on the world, one that takes into consideration the extreme urban and demographic changes we have undergone in the past century.
- R

13 April 2007

The latest occupation

It's been an occupied springtime, and I have been run off my feet with work: organizing pitch sessions, receptions, attending performing arts tradeshows, writing articles, fundraising.

My latest occupation is represented at madeinbc.org. No I have not changed jobs... I continue to develop the three-year pilot project Made in BC - Dance on Tour.

I've taken on the challenge of reinvigorating regional touring in the most westerly province of Canada. British Columbia is absolutely beautiful, and its geography is considerably challenging. The many mountain ranges cut off the north and south at the midriff of the province. The west of centre strip at the midline is nearly impenetrable and almost inhabitable wilderness. The 'regions' of the province are basically everything outside of greater Vancouver, which is our relatively mammoth city in the furthest southwest corner of the province.

In the 2006 census report, British Columbia is the most urban province in Canada - we have more people living in Vancouver than we do in the rest of the province... that's loosely 4.3 million in the province and 2.2 million in greater Vancouver. It makes sense that Vancouver is growing - the less the provincial economy is based on resources and industry, the more people are migrating to the city for alternative work. Too, as Vancouver's reputation for 'the best place on earth' spreads, the more populated it becomes.

Regional BC is filling up with moneyed retirees, and housing prices in 'beautiful British Columbia' are outpacing earners, especially young ones and growing families, so it becomes unaffordable in several ways. Here is a forecast for the next few years: schools will close, hospitals will be oversubscribed, second and third home ownership (which lacks resident taxation) will increase, golf courses will flourish, tourism will fluctuate, and young workers will be absent from the regions.

Remember, there are few roads crossecting the province, and the landscape and weather mean that road travel can be challenging (no, not impossible - don't be misled). Flights are costly, and nearly all are routed through Vancouver. Travel distances are long - arrive in Vancouver from Prince Rupert (close to the Alaskan border) in 2.5 hours by plane (plus you must take a bus and ferry to get the airport in PR) or drive it in 18hours. When I lived in Germany, the popular comparison was that Germany fits into B.C. two and a half times, yet the population of Germany is 82.4million now. We are a piddly population in comparison, but want and expect the same level of infrastructure and provision. No less, everyone deserves it. And yet, the demographic shift towards the one city is remarkable and has repercussions.

The regional and urban divide are strong here - we actually have a town called 'Hope' which marks the barrier for this divide. Both parties say that once you've crossed it, you're in the territory 'beyond hope.'

In the midst of this comes contemporary dance. Yes, contemporary dance. In the isolation of regional British Columbia (towns settled according to resource bases, not proximity), the presenters I work with are upping the level of dance in their communities. They are interested and committed to bring more BC contemporary dance to their audiences, and exposing their communities to new ideas through performing arts. Reciprocally, BC contemporary dance artists are reaching out to the regions with refreshed enthusiasm and developed understanding.

If you want to see how I'm working with presenters and dance artists to exchange ideas, bridge the urban/regional divide and stimulate awareness of contemporary dance in local communities, check out the work at www.madeinbc.org. There is plenty going on.

- R