Graham Harman's 2014 Essay on Object-Oriented Philosophy and Nonrelational Aesthetics Revisited

ArtReview's archival series explores Graham Harman's essay 'Art Without Relations,' published in September 2014, which presents nonrelational aesthetics as a counter to relational thinking in modern art. As a prominent figure in object-oriented ontology alongside Quentin Meillassoux, Ray Brassier, and Iain Hamilton Grant, Harman contended that artworks should not be diminished to their social or political implications. Following Documenta 13 in 2012, this movement gained traction, highlighting the autonomy of objects. Critiquing relational aesthetics as proposed by Nicolas Bourriaud, Harman drew on phenomenology and thinkers like Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. He examined modernist theory, differentiating between direct observation and performative engagement, promoting art that defies simplification.