Conceptual Art
Theory, Myth, and Practice

A consideration of the relationship between Conceptual art and the context of the 1960s and 1970s.

Michael Corris (Edited by)

9780521530873, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 December 2003

380 pages, 69 b/w illus.
25.5 x 17.9 x 2.3 cm, 0.8 kg

'… this is an incisive and scholarly contribution to the extant literature which … may well become a benchmark for serious study of the subject area.' Art History

Conceptual art was a loose collection of related practices that emerged worldwide during the 1960s and 1970s. It continues to be relevant to contemporary art and remains a lively topic of debate. The most striking features of conceptual art are its de-emphasis on the importance of the art object and its understanding of the role of language in shaping our knowledge of the world and our conception of art. This collection of essays deals with the issues that animated Conceptual art in the anglophone world. It offers readers a wealth of research on the earliest international exhibitions of Conceptual art, interpretation of some of its most important practitioners, and a consideration of the relationship between conceptual art and the intellectual and social context of the 1960s and 1970s. Of special note are the contributions focusing on the explicitly social and political aspirations of this influential avant-garde artistic practice.

Introduction: 'An Invisible College in an Anglo-American World'
Part I. Artists, Object, Spectator: 1. The formalist connection and originary myths of Conceptual art Frances Colpitt
2. Content, context and conceptual art: Dan Graham's Schema Alex Aberro
3. 'Almost not photography' Melanie Mariño
4. Soft talk/soft tape: the early collaborations of Ian Burn and Mel Ramsden Ann Stephen
Part II. Display: 5. The second degree: working drawings and other visible things on paper not necessarily meant to be viewed as art James Meyer
6. When Attitudes become Form and the contest over Conceptual art's history Alison Green
7. Understanding Information Ken Allan
8. 'The rotting sack of humanism': Robert Morris and authorship Richard J. Williams
Part III. Recoding Information, Knowledge, and Technology: 9. Affluence, taste and the brokering of knowledge: notes on the social context of early conceptual art Robert Hobbs
10. Hanne Darboven: seriality and the time of solitude Briony Fer
11. Art in the information age: technology and Conceptual art Edward A. Shanken
12. The crux of conceptualism: Conceptual art, the Idea of idea and the information paradigm Johanna Drucker
Part IV. The Limit of the Social: 13. Conceptual work and conceptual waste Blake Stimson
14. Conceptual art and imageless truth John Roberts
15. New York discusses its social relations in 'The lumpen Headache' Chris Gilbert
16. Ian Burn's conceptualism Adrian Piper.

Subject Areas: Art styles not defined by date [ACB]