In this article empirical examples are used to connect theories about young people, contemporary art forms and learning. The first part of the article introduces the new forms of consciousness which, according to the youth researchers Birgitte Simonsen and Thomas Ziehe, characterize young people of today. In the second part, the qualities of contemporary art forms experienced by young people are connected to the theories of the French art critic Nicholas Borriaud regarding "relational aesthetics". Finally, the third part of the article discusses four preconditions for learning, which were experienced as positive by the young people included in the empirical material: "the hook", "the experience of otherness", "social interaction", and "meta-reflection".