Dialogue Revolt-the Social Intervention Strategy Of Art From Grant Kester’s "Dialogue Aesthetics"

The 1990s saw the emergence of a series of projects that invited participants to engage in dialogue in the art practice.These projects mark the emergence of contemporary art practices that involve collaborative and potentially liberating forms of dialogue and conversation.A work of art elicits a conversation that usually occurs in the viewer’s response to a finished work of art.In these projects,the dialogue becomes part of the work itself.However,there are many differences among critics as to whether such "dialogic" creation can be considered as art.The idea of dialogic art practice comes from the literary theorist Bakhtin,who believes that a work of art can be seen as a communication--a field that presents different meanings,interpretations and perspectives.Kester gives a special definition of "dialogue" in the context of artistic practice.Different from "hoarded" art of self-expression,conversational art develops works through practical interaction.However,these works are often criticized as not beautiful or even recognized as "art" because of the lack of visual processing of the forms.Based on the definition of dialogue aesthetics and the analysis of practical strategies,this paper finds out that the aesthetic dimension of conversational art practice starts from the mode of dialogue communication.This paper tries to present "dialogue" as the effective social intervention strategy to achieve "participation",and discusses the new direction of social intervention art practice in the Chinese context.