Hello class! This is your video assignment for the Conceptual Art Instructions.
The form and the expressive content in Conceptual Art, are less important
than the creation of an idea.
Quite often, they are objects that only exist to reference themselves. And often, they erase the
boundary separating art production and everyday life.
Marcel Duchamp may be one of the very first Conceptual Artists, and his famous quote about his “readymades” is,
“Whether [the artist] with his own hands made the [artwork] or not has no importance. He CHOSE it. He took an ordinary article of life,
placed it so that its useful significance disappeared under the new title and point of view – created a new thought for that object.”
 
This act of removing something from its ordinary context forces us, as the viewers, to think about that object differently.
We consider it from a new angle. New thoughts are formed as a result of changing the context. This is the basis of Conceptual Art.
The idea is the primary concern.
And here we have two examples of Marcel Duchamp's "readymades," Fountain and Bicycle Wheel.
A chair sits alongside a photograph of a chair and a dictionary definition of the word chair.
Which one is the chair? Perhaps all three are chairs, or versions of one:
a visual chair, a verbal chair, and a chair of wood. But isn't this last chair simply . . . a chair?
If both the photograph and the words describe a chair, how do they function differently from the real chair, and what is Kosuth's
artwork doing by adding these functions together?
Asking such questions, and chasing a chair through three different forms, Kosuth
asks us to try to figure out the messages of how we experience art.
He wrote, "The art I call conceptual is such because it is based on an inquiry into the nature of art, Thus, it is . . .
a working out, a thinking out, of all the implications of all aspects of the concept 'art'."
This is that example of One and Three Chairs by Joseph Kosuth.
Sol LeWitt, an American artist, made wall compositions that were designed to be shown for a short time period and for any kind of room.
Quite often these works were made by other people, and destroyed once the exhibition was over.
A key figure in Conceptual Art, Sol LeWitt emphasized the creative idea that generates a
work of art, as opposed to the work's material existence.
He said, "For each work of art that becomes physical, there are many variations that do not."
LeWitt would often send over instructions for the creation of the work of art, and allow other people to execute the actual work.
He had no control over how others’ interpreted his instructions.
He let go of the result, and his work was done: he had created a new idea and that was the artistic creation.
The object made from his instructions was less important.
Here is another example of
an artist’s instructions for the viewer
to perform an act of creation, with no object being created. So the top image in this slide
is the instructions given, at the bottom other people at the Museum,
where was shown, interpreted his instructions and came up with this very large wall drawing.
The experience of following the instructions is the work of art.
So, I'm just giving you a couple more examples. On the top on the left we have
hand-signed and hand-written by Sol LeWitt, the instructions for another Wall Drawing, number 811.
And on the right, how the museum interpreted those instructions and painted
a wall according to his
guidance.
Here's another example. Sol LeWitt here included a diagram
on the left, to make it more clear. This is Wall Drawing number 49, and on the right we have a certificate saying it's authentic and then
the actual written instructions of how to create
the wall drawing. And then people at the museum where he sent the instructions created this very light,
pastel, washed-out Wall Drawing number 49 according to his instructions.
And here we have Yoko Ono. She came up with the original idea,
the creative act. Again, the experience of following these instructions is the work of art.
So what I would like you to come up with is your own instructions for a work of Conceptual Art. You can include a diagram, or simply
compose the instructions. No one has to make your work, so you can come up with ideas that cannot be made by you.
Be creative! Make your idea large, complex, simple, or it could take place across time – whatever you can think of!
Submit your instructions via D2L, either the dropbox, or MyPima's email.
You may simply type them out, or send me a photo of your ideas. This is due Wednesday, October 14th. And
above all, have fun with this!
above all, have fun with this!
