Arte participativo: entre el trabajo social y la utopía

Abstract

This article aims to unravel the possibilities and political limitations of participatory art from the perspective of the aesthetic efficiency proposed by Jacques Rancière, with the intention of showing that its political effects are more relevant when emphasizing its contradictory character and its capacity to show the conflict, than when it is treated as ethical models and harmonious communities. This implies a revision of its dual role as art and social work, the utopian and community models it proposes, the role of these and the modes of participation of the spectators who experience the work. Participatory art is defined, the place it occupies in the context of contemporary art and the socio-political environment that favors the intersection between art and social intervention today. Aesthetic efficiency is reviewed, as Rancière defines it. Finally, a selection of works and postures of artists Joseph Beuys (Office for Direct Democracy and International Free University), Pablo Helguera (Pan American School of Unrest) and Thomas Hirschhorn (Monument to Gramsci) are used to analyze the double role of participatory art as art and social work, and the utopian and community models it proposes. To this end, Rancière's ideas and comments from critics, curators and participants will be contrasted with the first-hand works presented in the form of short scenes.