Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity [Paperback]

Alexander Alberro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 17, 2004

Conceptual art was one of the most influential art movements of the second half of the twentieth century. In this book Alexander Alberro traces its origins to the mid-1960s, when its principles were first articulated by the artists Dan Graham, Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, Lawrence Weiner, and others. One of Alberro's central arguments is that the conceptual art movement was founded not just by the artists but also by the dealer Seth Siegelaub. Siegelaub promoted the artists, curated groundbreaking shows, organized symposia and publications, and in many ways set the stage for another kind of entrepreneur: the freelance curator. Alberro examines both Siegelaub's role in launching the careers of artists who were making "something from nothing" and his tactful business practices, particularly in marketing and advertising.Alberro draws on close readings of artworks produced by key conceptual artists in the mid- to late 1960s. He places the movement in the social context of the rebellion against existing cultural institutions, as well as the increased commercialization and globalization of the art world. The book ends with a discussion of one of Siegelaub's most material and least ephemeral contributions, the Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement, which he wrote between 1969 and 1971. Designed to limit the inordinate control of collectors, galleries, and museums by increasing the artist's rights, the Agreement unwittingly codified the overlap between capitalism and the arts.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Seth Siegelaub, a young art dealer in the early days of Conceptualism in New York City, provides the hook for this materialist reading of the early Conceptualist movement, and through Alberro's creative reading of events, ends up in the pantheon of Dan Graham and Allan Kaprow as something of an artist himself. Stressing the overlap between 1960s avant-garde art and emerging marketing techniques in the advertising industry, Alberro, an assistant art history professor at the Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, recasts the Conceptualist movement as a progressive wing of the larger postwar global information economy, using the work of social theorists Marshall McLuhan and Jean Baudrillard to provide ballast for his claims. When art becomes idea, the idea goes, ideas become commodity, in which context Siegelaub the impresario steps forward as a canny artist in his own right, a kind of virtuoso of the deal, whose oeuvre of criticism, curation and freelance symposia sponsorship allowed the first-generation conceptualists to sell their ephemeral pieces in the first place. After the initial argument is made, however, the book lapses into a familiar, if highly detailed, history of early Conceptualism, with Lawrence Weiner, Sol LeWitt and others jockeying for career position and indulging in carefully staged self-promotion between their gnomic, advertorial statements of purpose. Furthermore, the argument that art world hype and self-construction somehow gestated with the Conceptualist generation, or somehow undermines the legitimacy of their stated purposes (a sly subtext to this reading, which elevates the cult of the curator), is somewhat unconvincing, given the art of hustling that has always underwritten the successful art world career. B&w illustrations throughout.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"The same bracing honesty, sly wit, human insight, and formal brilliance that have made Yvonne Rainer among the most influential figures of her generation make *Feelings are Facts* an irresistible pleasure. The book is both a moving personal memoir and a fascinating cultural history; it reveals the complex relationship between the emotional life and creative work of a remarkable artist during a period of seismic shifts in American culture and society."--Nicholas Baume, Chief Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

"A valuable contribution to the literature on conceptual art." Michael Dashkin Library Journal

"Alberro does a surprisingly good job of putting into perspective and recording the Conceptual Art movement." Gina Vivinetto St. Petersburg Times

"This is in many ways a bold and suggestive book." Peter Osborne Artforum

"This scholarly text on a little-examined topic draws fascinating parallels between the art world and postindustrial capitalism and telecommunications." Gregg Sapp Library Journal

"Gammel successfully revivifies the life and work of this maverick feminist, who wrote evocative experimental poetry, constructed vibrant assemblage art, and enacted herself dramatically throughout the streets and salons of New York in the WWI period. She convincingly demonstrates the Baroness's impact as an original artist, poet, and performer of Dada. This book is a must for all scholars of literary modernism and the Dada movement, but is also terrifically entertaining to read."--Amelia Jones, Professor of Art History, University of California, Riverside

"This is the most rigorous history of conceptual art in print, and an important addition to the literature on postwar art."--Pamela Lee, Department of Art and Art History, Stanford University

"*Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity* offers a detailed account of the complex relationship between the official Conceptual Art movement in New York City and the concomitant social and economic pressures of burgeoning late capitalism. Through clear prose and precise arguments, Alberro traces the intricate links among the conceptual artists and the entrepreneurs who marketed their work, thoughtfully exploring the contradictions these relationships entailed. Most importantly, the book demystifies the movement by pointing to the paradoxical dependence of dematerialized *idea art* on the machinations of a voracious art market that made the works available for consumption while promoting them as resistant to the forces of institutionalization."--Amelia Jones, Professor of Art History, University of California, Riverside

"This book brings thorough and original scholarship to a relatively neglected field. Alberro's work is presented with an impressive breadth of cultural, political and historical awareness. His command of wide-ranging sources is remarkable and his deployment of them revealing."--Nicholas Baume, Chief Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (September 17, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262511843
• ISBN-13: 978-0262511841
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,152,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alexander Alberro is the Virginia Bloedel Wright Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art at Barnard College and Columbia University in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy many and give to Fine Artists, October 16, 2011

By 

B. Knight "Ben Knight" (Brooklyn, NY US of A) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity (Paperback)

The book description is very accurate. It will expand/increase your point(s) of view of all Conceptual Art (to quote Joseph Kosuth, "all Art after Duchamp is Conceptual"), thus critical for your understanding of all Art made now.

Like I stated in the review title: buy this book and give them away to Fine Artists.

Also great asset for those in business school wanting to know where most marketers borrowed/took/stole their ideas from.

3 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Conceptual art and the politics of publicity, June 18, 2009

By 

James A. Woronow - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Conceptual Art and the Politics of Publicity (Paperback)

The type font is Caecilla Light size is ?? small. The book is unreadable to these 60 yr old eyes. MIT - you know better.
Wonder what it would have been like to read