Conceptual Art Explained: Why Conceptual Art Works, and How it Fails?

Contemporary and Conceptual Art explained in ten minutes! Sometimes a urinal is just a urinal, and sometimes it is much, much more! Take a deep dive into the significance of Marcel Duchamp's Fountain, and uncover the three keys in determining the success of a work of contemporary art and telling bad art from good art.
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[@renzo6490]

As I see it, the whole of Conceptual Art is a mine field that no one has successfully navigated a way through. I don't know what is meant by 'the sublime' as expressed in this video. Is Delacroix's " Liberty Leading The People " preachy? Here is my take on Conceptual Art: Let me begin by telling you that when my brother was just starting school, he rebelled at the rules of spelling. Why did words have to be spelled in a particular way? Why couldn't he spell them as he wanted to spell them? He resented the rules and he resisted the authority of those who made them ! Keep this in mind. I think that Conceptual art originated with people who could not and would not do the difficult work required to become a 'traditional' artist. Can't master the necessary skills ? No knowledge of perspective? Can't draw? Don't want to have to learn color theory? Can't master composition? No knowledge of human anatomy? Can't render tonal values Can’t be bothered ? These are skills that you have to WORK to perfect. It’s difficult. It takes…..effort. You want a fast track to the exalted position of "artist “. Well then, belittle the importance of those skills and debase the notion that they are a prerequisite to creating art. Instead, create an art genre that you CAN do. A new genre. And let's call it Conceptual art. Conceptual artists claim that IDEAS and CONCEPTS are the main feature of their art. They can slap anything together and call it ''conceptual art'' confident that viewers will find SOMETHING to think about it no matter how banal or trivial the artist's concept! There is no way conceptual art pieces can be judged. The promoters of this art have attacked the motives and credibility of authorities and critics who might disparage the work. They have rejected museums and galleries as defining authorities. They reject the idea that art can be judged or criticized . All of this results in a decline in standards. And when you jettison standards, quality suffers. There really IS such a thing as BAD art ! We know this only because we have standards and criteria by which such things can be evaluated. It seems that conceptual art comes down to a basic idea: No one has the right or authority to make any judgements about art ! Art is anything you can get away with ! A whole new language has been created to give the work an air of legitimacy and gravitas. Conceptual art is 'sold' to the unwary public with ....."ArtSpeak". ArtSpeak is a unique assemblage of English words and phrases that the International Art world uses but which are devoid of meaning! Have you ever found yourself confronted by an art gallery’s description of an exhibition which seems completely indecipherable? Or an artist’s statement about their work which left you more confused than enlightened? You’re not alone. Here are examples of ArtSpeak: 'Works that probe the dialectic between innovations that seem to have been forgotten, the ruinous present state of projects once created amid great euphoria, and the present as an era of transitions and new beginnings.'' Or ''The exhibition reactivates his career-long investigation into the social mutations of desire and repression. But his earlier concerns with repression production--in the adolescent or in the family as a whole--give way to the vertiginous retrieval and wayward reinvention of mythical community and sub-cultural traditions.'' This language is meant to convince me that there is real substance to this drivel which is being passed off as art. I don't buy it. But plenty of other people DO buy it. Not because they love the work. They are laying out enormous sums in the belief that their investment will bring them high returns in the future. One Jeff Koons conceptual piece is three basketballs suspended in a fish tank. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Three_Ball_Total_Equilibrium_Tank_by_Jeff_Koons,_Tate_Liverpool.jpg Here is Koons' own ArtSpeak explanation of his floating basketball 'concept' verbatim: “ This is an ultimate state of being. I wanted to play with people’s desires. They desire this equilibrium. They desire pre-birth. I was giving a definition of life and death. This is the eternal. This is what life is like, also, after death. Aspects of the eternal” Rather lofty goals for 3 basketballs suspended in a fish tank!! It sold for $350,000. I wonder what it would have fetched without Koons' name attached to it. Or take the case of Martin Creed's ball of crumpled white copy paper. www.abebooks.com/signed/Work-sheet-paper-crumpled-ball-Creed/7404135374/bd He made almost 700 of them! Some sold for hundreds of dollars. Martin Creed, when asked during an interview how he would respond to those who say the crumpled paper ball isn’t art said : “ I wouldn’t call this art either. Who says, anyway, what’s good and what’s bad?” Interviewer: ''When confronted with conceptual art, we shouldn’t worry whether it’s art or not because no one really knows what art is.'' Is this what art has come to?? _________________________________ Something radical has happened to the art scene in the past 50 years. Cubism slid into non-representational art....what is often called Abstract. Abstract or non-representational art is a legitimate and often profound genre. But to many people, it appeared as if this new style had no structure, principles or standards of evaluation. It’s markings seemed random and arbitrary. Something that anyone could do. Any composition of blotches or scribbles was “Abstract Art”. This was the slippery slope that led to the abandonment of standards in art. Art is what I say it is....and lots of people jumped on the art bandwagon. Anyone can be an artist. Anyone can mount a show. And who is to say if it has value or not ? A tacit agreement has formed among critics, galleries, publications and auction houses to promote and celebrate certain artists and styles. Objects with no artistic merit are touted and praised . Their value increases with every magazine article, every exhibition in a prestigious gallery. And when they come up for auction, sometimes the auction houses will lend vast sums to a bidder so that it appears as if the work of the particular artist is increasing in value. The upward spiral begins and fortunes are made. And many are reluctant to declare that the Emperor is, in fact, naked lest they appear boorish unsophisticated Philistines ! This is what dominates the art market today. The love of money is the root of all evil. It has corrupted politics. It has corrupted sport. It has corrupted healthcare. It has corrupted religion. And now it has corrupted art. But, there is reason to hope. As much of the wisdom of the Greeks and Romans was kept alive through the Middle Ages in small pockets of learning and culture, ateliers have sprung up around the world that are devoted to preserving and handing down the traditional visual arts: drawing, painting and sculpting to each new generation. And when this craze for conceptual art has burned itself out and when visual art is no longer looked on as mere decoration and when schools that have dissolved their art programs want to reestablish them again, the world will find these skills preserved through the atelier movement.

[@eurylochus2617]

I disagree - and probably 99% with any knowledge or understanding of art. You say that conceptual art is only for those that dont know how to do "real" art. But a lot of conceptual artists/painters are people with a long background of realism - which is the thing that takes a lot of years to learn to do. But even so even impressionism is a sort of art that doesn't take THAT much skill. So are you calling great artists like picasso, van gogh or munch for bad artists cause they dont do realism? Secondly it seems that you dont really realize what conceptual art often is - an art-form that tries to push the boundaries of what art is

[@BizRasam]

This is brilliant! Thank you!

[@BizRasam]

@@eurylochus2617 learn to listen instead of making noise.

[@taricoamenel0918]

@@eurylochus2617 impressionism DOES take a considerable talent and skill to make though. You are belittling impressionism and defending the likes of a crumpled paper. Someone in a different thread described it well as "a philosophy thesis posing as art"

[@cyruspiruz9422]

helpful information,thanks

[@jodistewart]

Your videos are really good! You should make more when you have time. :)

[@fromlight2art985]

thank you, working on it ;)

[@2011Matz]

Art cannot simple rely on the novelty of an offering. Art without technique, is a pose, and an exercise in public relations.

[@fromlight2art985]

my thoughts as well...

[@cadenceblackburn9205]

i subscribed, thank you

[@fromlight2art985]

Thanks for subbing! Stay tuned for more ;)

[@timeenoughforart]

The physical art disappears as the "explanation" becomes the art. The verbal over takes the visual. The social aspect trumps all. It is just a banana duct taped to a wall, or a drunk splattering paint on the ground. I will never cry before a Rothko. I don't belong to that tribe. Don't sacrifice at that alter. Art is a perfect reflection of society. I would be curious how many young artist are focused on digital and cartoons. We used to focus on a viewer standing in front of a physical object, now it is about a few square inches of exploding electrons. I've seen enough disdain over realism or conceptual art. People standing on opposite sides of the same wall. It is a lot of noise for such a small battle field. The reality is most art is not valued. We might have a religious obsession over a few personalities, but for the art itself? It is just visual noise. I've developed a few artistic hero's, it was heart breaking to learn most of their work goes unsold. We paint for closets and storage sheds. Inconceivable.

[@fromlight2art985]

I feel you, and share alot of those sentiments! One of my motivations for making this video was to try to give art the benefit of the doubt as something worth while. As for the future of art via small digital screens, adding to digital noise, I totally agree and hope to somehow preserve safe spaces for art to be experienced (with or without tears;) rather than simply just seen and consumed.

[@carolinenorman6141]

Gimmicks get noticed

[@noras.9774]

It works because there are many snobs people!

[@fromlight2art985]

Yes, this is also partially true ;) Conceptual Art does tend to have and attract a ton of snobbery, but there is actually a part that is on to something which I am trying to explore ☺