Concept vs Object in art
In May I had my first solo indoor sculpture exhibition at Prospect Gallery here in Adelaide. It was a great experience. My second solo sculpture exhibition will be happening in February/March next year at Art Images Gallery in Norwood.
During my Prospect Gallery exhibition I addressed a group of year 11 students one day. One of them published her review of the gallery visit and my talk in the school news. It was fascinating to me to read that this year 11 student found my small multi-part sculpture called 'dichotomy/continuum argument: concept/object dilemma' the piece of most interest - most people dismissed it quickly as pretty boring.
The student wrote that "This piece allows the viewer to consider the question posed in the title: when does the concept become the object? Or are they the same? This is a question that I have often wondered about, as art could be seen both as the initial idea as well as the finished product. There is no real line between the concept and the finished product, as the product is in essence the concept but the product is also the recognised expression of an idea. I really like this, as it shows the progression between an idea and a product; it also allows the viewer to question whether it is a concept of an object that is displayed before them."
Crikey, this student gets it!
I had a similar 'AHA!' experience when I was about the same age as this student and my parents took me from Seattle to visit (what I think was) the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Somehow, and I don't think it was particularly my parents' objective, I ended-up meeting some conceptual artists who were working or studying at UBC and they walked me around and showed me some of their artworks. This was between 1970 and 1972. Before meeting these guys my concept of art was always The Object - it was something that had physical presence - you could see it, you could touch it (not that it was always allowed), it was something real. It was the result of an idea, not the idea itself.
Then these artists showed me that it didn't have to be The Object, and I've been swaying back and forth between concept and object since that time. Part of me wants to be a conceptual artist, part of me likes making physical objects.
Where does it end? Anyone want to buy a concept?
During my Prospect Gallery exhibition I addressed a group of year 11 students one day. One of them published her review of the gallery visit and my talk in the school news. It was fascinating to me to read that this year 11 student found my small multi-part sculpture called 'dichotomy/continuum argument: concept/object dilemma' the piece of most interest - most people dismissed it quickly as pretty boring.
The student wrote that "This piece allows the viewer to consider the question posed in the title: when does the concept become the object? Or are they the same? This is a question that I have often wondered about, as art could be seen both as the initial idea as well as the finished product. There is no real line between the concept and the finished product, as the product is in essence the concept but the product is also the recognised expression of an idea. I really like this, as it shows the progression between an idea and a product; it also allows the viewer to question whether it is a concept of an object that is displayed before them."
Crikey, this student gets it!
I had a similar 'AHA!' experience when I was about the same age as this student and my parents took me from Seattle to visit (what I think was) the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Somehow, and I don't think it was particularly my parents' objective, I ended-up meeting some conceptual artists who were working or studying at UBC and they walked me around and showed me some of their artworks. This was between 1970 and 1972. Before meeting these guys my concept of art was always The Object - it was something that had physical presence - you could see it, you could touch it (not that it was always allowed), it was something real. It was the result of an idea, not the idea itself.
Then these artists showed me that it didn't have to be The Object, and I've been swaying back and forth between concept and object since that time. Part of me wants to be a conceptual artist, part of me likes making physical objects.
Where does it end? Anyone want to buy a concept?
Labels: art sculpture conceptual art
posted by Rick's Rambles at 6:56 pm
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