Another Relationality (second part). On a cure in times divest of poetry/ On poetry in incurable times

With John Beverley, Antonella Corsani, Marcelo Expósito, Brian Holmes, kpD, Maurizio Lazzarato, Suely Rolnik

The first part of this conference (November 25 and 26, 2005) offered elements for debate from the point of view of aesthetic theory and the legacy of institutional criticism and public art. The idea was to define the term "relationality" and place it within the tradition of practices that have made it necessary to critically re-think and re-invent the social functions of art and its institutions.

The second part will be more directly political, approaching the problem of relationality as an alternative to the artistic processes determined by a visual paradigm-based concept of representation. When presented within this model, the relational paradigm points to the need to criticize representational methods. Those relational, communicative, affective, collaborative, and immaterial aspects take on a new centrality in post-industrial capitalism which has, as Paolo Virno said it, put subjectivity to work." In this context, relationality becomes a key concept in theorizing on the newly diffused forms of politicization and aestheticization that are transforming subjectivity's very construct.

The second part is focused on two debates: transformations of subjectivity and the possibility of overcoming the representational paradigm through the relational paradigm.

This project has been carried out within the framework of Transform and with the support of the European Community.