Conceptual Art A&I (Art and Ideas) [Paperback]

Tony Godfrey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 1998

Covering the entire 20th century, this text traces the roots of conceptual art to movements such as Dada, explaining its importance in the 1960s and 1970s and showing that it is still alive today. In 1917 Marcel Duchamp signed the name R. Mutt on a urinal and placed it in a gallery. Even the most strident modernists refused to accept this object as a work of art, however, Duchamp stuck to his guns, claiming that he had chosen the urinal as an art object so it must be art. Such arguments over the nature of art still continue today. Tony Godfrey sees the archetypal work of Conceptual Art as a question and a proposition joined together: "What is Art? This could be Art." This text seeks to demystify the subject by placing the art in its social and political context.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (November 6, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714833886
• ISBN-13: 978-0714833880
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #40 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Conceptual

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book ever!, July 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Conceptual Art A&I (Art and Ideas) (Paperback)

This book is a superb introduction to not just Conceptual Art, but the way of thinking and looking at Art in general. It provides the reader with background information and contextualizes the artworks and the artists included. Covers the timeline from Dada to the recent yBa (Young British Artists) and describes the evolution of Art in this century. It was easy to read and understand. An inspiration!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For anyone interested in conceptual art., September 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Conceptual Art A&I (Art and Ideas) (Paperback)

A great history of conceptual art. It was easy to read and understand.

A few topics I found interesting were "Duchamp and Data", "Varieties of Conceptual Art", "Women Conceptual Artists" and "Political and Institutional Contexts."

A great book for anyone who is interested in conceptual art.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Mona Lisa with a mustache..., May 1, 2004

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Conceptual Art A&I (Art and Ideas) (Paperback)

If you're one of those people who enjoy going to art musuems, but find yourself scratching your head at the piles of plastic bones, jars of fat, or sound boxes that endlessly repeat "chatter chatter chatter" installed in dark rooms, this book will be of great assistance. Conceptual art is simply a different world. It's not a pretty painting or a beautiful sculpture (though "pretty" and "beautiful" are relative to the extreme); it's more of a reaction to these things, a response to the notion of what art is, or a heightening and re-evaluation of the question "what is art?"

The best "explanation" of conceptual art in this book is by the philospher Arthur C Danto. He suggests that at some point art moved from the purely aesthetic to the purely philosophical; without a theoretical background it is very difficult to see why a Brillo box or a neon light that glows and pulsates the words "Eat and Die" is considered art. The "art" is in the concept, not necessarily in the physical work itself. Conceptual art is thus highly intellectual (usually), abstract, and typically doesn't aim for the mere appreciation of a physical object. That many of the artists mentioned in this book use concepts from philosophers like Wittgenstein doesn't refute the claim that conceptual art inhabits an almost purely mental or philosophical realm. To appreciate it, the viewer must go beyond the basic act of seeing.

The book begins with some introductory remarks concerning conceptual art, then discusses its origins in the work of Duchamp, Dada, and cubism. The bulk of the book concentrates on what is considered the peak of conceptual art, or the years 1966 to 1972. Apart from the artistic developments of the times discussed, political and social developments are detailed in parallel. This brings out the political side of conceptual art which many felt (and feel) is the true aim of all conceptual art. Along these lines there are some disturbing images such as the piece "Q: And babies? A: and babies" which is a photograph of dead bodies (adults and children) in a ditch taken during the Vietnam war. There is also an entire chapter dedicated to women and conceptual art - which contains another disturbing piece entitled "rape scene", a chapter about conceptual artists using photography, and a discussion about the dissolution of the art object, and almost the artists themselves, as a "progression" of art in the twentieth century. A particularly fascinating discussion revolves around the debate as to whether art is or is not a commodity, and that conceptual art's attempt to remove the commodity from art was doomed to failure from the start. Parts, smaller parts, of the book discuss art in other countries. These are mostly cursory discussions, but are still interesting for their own part. The final chapter discusses conceptual art in the 1990s, and conceptual art's legacy in general.

For modern museum denizens there are many familiar names mentioned here in connection with conceptual art: Duchamp, Man Ray, Magritte, Warhol, Bruce Nauman, Ad Reinhardt (with his great "What do YOU represent" cartoon of 1945), Piero Manzoni (who literally had his own excrement canned), Claes Oldenburg, John Cage, Merce Cunningham, Frank Zappa, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, even Laurie Anderson, and many others far too numerous to list.

One of the more interesting projects discussed is Hans Haacke's "Manet-PROJEKT 74" in which Manet's "Bunch of Asparagus" of 1880 was to be displayed next to placards describing the political and economic status of the individuals that have owned the piece since its original sale. The Wallraf-Richartz museum in Cologne did not appreciate the concept and rejected it, likely due to the fact that the last placard described an individual's, one who had helped the museum acquire the Manet, known ties to the Third Reich. This is conceptual art being both political and self-referential (not to mention historically fascinating).

Throughout, the pictures and layout are incredible (as is typical for Phaidon). The text can get pretty thick at times when it describes some of the pieces. At other times it seems to brief, as if the author was trying to get in as much as possible. Overall the discussion is a good one and will enlighten anyone looking for guidance through the maze of bizarre objects that live in modern museums.