Conceptual Photography
“Conceptual art is an art which questions the very nature of what is understood as art.”
– Tony Godfrey
Conceptual art is art in which the concept or idea involved in the work take precedence
over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. The conceptualist's work may require
little or no physical craftsmanship in its execution, whereas traditional art is distinguished
by requiring physical skill and the making of aesthetic choices.
The Conceptual artist often uses photography. However, the photograph merely
documents the action of the artist. The action of the artist is the expression and
representation the idea. The Idea is the most important aspect of the artwork.
Conceptual Artists who use photography
Joseph Kosuth
Sophie Calle
Ed Ruscha
Bernd and Hilla Becher
Thomas Struth
Wolfgang Tillmans
Robert Smithson
Ana Mendieta
Cindy Sherman
Matthew Barney
50 Questions
1. Sit facing a blank wall in a quiet room.
2. On a piece of paper, or in a sketchbook, write down everything that comes into
your head but put it in the form of a question. You should write down at least 50
questions. Some will be random, but they will get deeper as you go. These Q’s are
designed to reach into the deepest recesses of your brain and help you find your
theme.
3. Narrow 50 Q’s down to the 10 most important questions.
4. Narrow the 10 to 5.
5. Change any “why” questions into “how” questions.
i.e: What is the meaning of life? Becomes “ how can I make my
life more meaningful” ?
Making your questions answerable
Brainstorm your big questions by turning it around into an answerable question.
Example:
What is the meaning of life?
becomes
What makes my life meaningful?
The first question is a very large, philosophical question we have been asking since the
dawn of time. The second question is basically the same, but it has been made personal
by adding “my” to life and the wording has been changed slightly to create a question we
can answer based on our own experience.
On this page reword your questions until you come up with a more answerable question.
Choose the question you want the answer to the most. This will be the IDEA of your
project.
REMEMBER: Your question might still be completely unanswerable. Making Art is
about the quest for the answer, not the answer itself.
Pablo Picasso painted, drew, and sculpted the feamale forms thousands of times in his
life. At the age of 92 he said “I still know nothing about the female form.”
Making your Question an Idea,
and your Idea an Action
Reread the activity you completed yesterday. What is the main idea of your question
and the answers you came up with?
Think about how that idea is expressed in life. Can you identify any actions or activities
that express that idea? List as many as you can.
IDEA, ACTION, EVIDENCE
We watched several artists and discussed their approach to art-making. Ask yourself how
these artists would answer your question. What would they do (ACTION)? What would
they display in and Art gallery (EVIDENCE)?
IDEA (your question):
How would ___________________answer my question?
ACTION:
EVIDENCE:
How would ___________________answer my question?
ACTION:
EVIDENCE:
How would ___________________answer my question?
ACTION:
EVIDENCE:
Stewart, Photo 2
Rubric
Conceptual Art Portfolio
IDEA
Questions
5
1 reworded question
_____20
Zittel, Wall, Calle, Baldessari,
_____20
Notes
ACTION
"Idea, Action, Evidence"
_____20
EVIDENCE
Presentation
Work clearly represents Idea & Action
Artist clearly explains the concept of the work
Artist defends their work during Q & A
_____40
__________________
_____100