We often hear people calling art or artists out as “pretentious”; is it true? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, pretentious is defined to be attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed which is exactly what art does. As we discussed in a previous post, many art movements came about in a manner that contradicted what had previously passed for art in the art world; each movement after another expanded the boundaries of what we considered as art.
Today, we’ll be exploring the topic of conceptualism and how a toilet made its way into the hearts of curators and gallery goers everywhere. Without further ado, let’s jump right in! Marcel DuChamp, a French-American painter and sculptor, will undoubtedly come up when discussing Conceptualism as a topic. DuChamp, rightfully so, is considered the father of Conceptual art. Many conceptual artists will often link their own work to his “Readymades” which shook the art world and created great controversy when first revealed; his work continues to be surrounded by controversy. DuChamp coined the term “readymade”, referring to the concept of taking mass-produced everyday objects out of their usual context and promoting them to the status of artwork solely by the choice of the artist.
At the core the Conceptual art movement was DuChamp’s decision to reject purely visual art, trading it in favor of more intellectual (or concept-driven) approached to art creation. Artists of this movement were influenced by the simplistic ideals of Minimalism; however, they rejected Minimalism’s embrace of conventional approaches to sculpture and painting. This resulted in the production of artworks that strayed from the traditional visual aesthetics art patrons had come to know; often times, conceptual artworks didn’t take any physical form at all.
“the idea (or concept) behind the work is more important than the finished art.”
Conceptual artists believe that the idea behind the work is more important than the finished work itself, giving way to another interesting concept that is embedded within the Conceptual art movement, institutional critique. Institutional critique is a practice that reflects critically on its own housing in galleries and museums on the concept and social function of art itself. Thus, conceptual artists utilized institutional critique and even patron commentary as an extension of the artwork they had created; the critique and commentary became as much of a work of art as the original artwork and intended concepts.
One of the most recognizable and infamous pieces of the Conceptual art movement is DuChamp’s 1917, Fountain. Seen as an icon of twenthieth-century art, Fountain consisted of a standard urinal signed and dated ‘R. Mutt 1917’. DuChamp recalled that the idea for this piece has origins in New York during a discussion with collector, Walter Arsenberg and artist, Joseph Stella. This work was first submitted to the Society of Independent Artists which DuChamp himself had helped found where it was rejected on the basis that a piece of sanitary ware could not only not be considered as art but was furthermore, indecent. Both Arsenberg and DuChamp resigned from the committee as a result of this decision.
“The Fountain may be a useful object in its place, but its place is not in an art exhibition and it is, by no definition, a work of art.” – Naumann, 2012
Many see DuChamp’s submission of the Fountain as a test of the commitment of the new American Society to freedom of expression and tolerance of new conceptions of art to which it failed. In addition, historians have said that his desire to test the committee most likely came from a similar betrayal that had occurred from his own experience at the Salon des Independents in Paris. In the early days of the exhibition first opening, after his piece had been rejected, DuChamp located the piece which had been stored at the exhibition space behind a partition and brought it to be photographed by the leading photographer and gallery owner, Alfred Stieglitz. The photographed was later published in the Blind Man with an editorial defending the artwork in the eye of the public for the first time. While the original artwork itself has been lost since then, our fascination with the piece has continued with replicas being produced and showcased at galleries across the globe.
So yes, while art might be a little pretentious at times, movements such as Conceptualism have served to expand the boundaries of the art world, pushing patrons and curators everywhere to be little more open minded.
