Conceptual Art
John Baldessari, (US b.
1931)
I will not make any
more boring
art, lithograph, 1971,
57 x 76cm
So…what was Conceptual Art??
Joseph Kosuth (U.S. b. 1945), Titled. Art as idea as
idea (water), 1966. Photocopy, mounted on board,
121.9 x 121.9 cm
Key features:
*The use of language within works,
or sometimes being the entire
work;
*Ideas were more important than
an aesthetic object.
It looked at the links between
words, ideas, and images.
Like Duchamp with his
readymades, Conceptual
Art tried to make us aware of the
context that we are viewing art in
(e.g. an art Gallery; or the street.)
Claude Monet
(Fr. 1840-1926),
Waterlilies,
1919
This is an artwork describing an Idea. It is not actually water. It is talking
about water, with paint. We understand it to represent water. It doesn’t
actually look anything like water. It’s square and flat and in a frame. The
word ‘water’ in Kosuth’s artwork means ‘water’ just as much as Monet’s
painting does.
Like Pop artists, Conceptual artists wanted to challenge the dominant
art of the 1940s and 1950s in America: Abstract Expressionism.
Review: With WW2, many European
artists, in particular several
Surrealists, fled to USA to escape
Nazism. America and more
specifically, NYC, became the centre
for the new avant-garde art. This was
politically good for the US and they
milked it. The name of ‘abstract
expressionist’ was applied to art that
actually varied widely, but was all
created at that time and mainly in
New York.
Helen Frankenthaler, (U.S. 1928-2011) Other generations, 1957, oil on canvas, 175 x 178cm
Abstract Expressionist art was making big money; it became big business and an
opportunity for the U.S. Government to show how advanced and creative
Americans were. There was an emphasis on the importance of individual,
talented artists who were creating these precious objects. The Conceptual artists
were challenging this. They said: Who can be an artist? Who says so? If the idea is
the important thing, rather than manual skill, then being an artist is something
different people can do.
Artists of this period questioned the
commodification of art objects, that is,
art as something that is bought and
sold, often at huge prices. The meaning
of the art was getting caught up in how
much it costs.
Piero Manzoni (Italian, 1933-1963) predated the American Conceptual artists
but had the same ideas and questions.
You had to see this: Artist’s Shit no. 14,
1961, faeces in sealed container. He
produced 90 tins, each with 30 gms of
faeces.
CONTEXT and the AUDIENCE was very important to Conceptual Artists (just like Duchamp.)
They wanted to make the audiences aware of how our approach and interaction with the
work makes the work possible.
Conceptual artists broke away from painting and sculpture to create new art forms. Earth
art; installations; performance art all were possible because of Conceptual art questioning
the art object.
Marjorie Strider, (US, b. 1934),
Street Works IV – cityscape, 1969, 30 large
frames placed in various places, here in front
of a building.
Note the ephemeral nature of the work.
The audiences response, also, is an
important part of the actual artwork. Also,
the documentation of a work is an
important part – like this photograph. The
Photograph records the artwork so
becomes part of the artwork
documentation, which is part of the
artwork
On Kawara, (Japan, b. 1933) Wed Dec 12, 1979, 1979, acrylic on
canvas, 46 x 62cm
Yep, this is the artwork. Kawara is still in the process of doing a series – a long series – of
‘Date Paintings’, started in 1965 and still going. Each painting notes the date it was
executed. That’s it. Kawara’s art was itself a documentation of a life shared with the
viewer.
Much of this art was not interesting to look at.  Why on earth
would you want to create art that is boring to look at?
Conceptual Art wasn’t intended to necessarily give you any visual
pleasure . It was more of an idea. It was designed, not to please you
visually, but rather to make a statement, or ask questions about art.
Other movements that were associated with Conceptual art, or
overlapped in terms of their ideas were Pop Art and Minimalism. All
of these movements questioned the art object in some way, and
generally they avoided evidence of the
artist’s hand, or challenged this in some way.
http://www.you
tube.com/watch
?v=MOF3qhM6v
IA
John Baldessari, What is painting, 1966-68, acrylic on
canvas, 172 x 144cm. Baldessari appropriated this text
from someone else, got someone else to make the
stretcher for the canvas, and got someone else to paint
the text….!!!
CLIP ON CONCEPTUAL ART http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzh0TTrnS2o&feature=channel&list=UL
50cc of Paris Air, 1919, broken in America and
repaired 1949
Duchamp, Bicycle Wheel, 1951 (reconstructed – original
created 1913, lost.)
HSC short answer question
(This question worth 12 marks. The paper will suggest you
spend 20 minutes writing this answer.)
Q: With reference to the source material provided, examine the relationship between
artist’s practices and the places they work.
Plate 4: William Kentridge (b. 1955, Sth Africa) working in his studio, drawing for his
animations.
Plate 5: Antony Gormley (b.
1950, British.) The artist
preparing Asian Field;
installation of Terra cotta
figurines. 2006 Sydney
Biennale.
Extract: The newspaper photograph above shows Antony Gormley with his installation
titled Asian Field. The terracotta figurines were made over 5 days in collaboration with
300 villagers in Xianxian, China. It was the biggest artwork in the 2006 Biennale and
invited viewers to reflect on the world’s most pressing problems. Behind him, a dozen
volunteers are painstakingly installing 180,000 figurines that filled the entire floor of the
140 metre long room at Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay.