834 Institutions and Objections seri Both employ imagery ht is a once baltic and, in a seep incomplete; bth esr toa simi antropomorphisng of ebjects of conto both ae capable of achieving remarkable eects of ‘presen’, and oh ae Sole objets and persons in station ~ the cned room andthe abana are as important t Surrealism as liters, -, Ths ffnity can be mace ‘hat Suredis sensibility, ar manifested inthe work of ceruin ate, tnd Roca bath ohne. [or] 7 Sol LeWitt (b. 1928) ‘Paragraphs on Conceptual LLeWit’s work is characterized by the use of repetition and permutation jystematic exclusion of any individuality of touch. Ths isnot, howev LeWitts output should be unprobiematically identified with a tradition of {wentieth-century art, At the time this text was written his typical Hor framed. rectangular structures presented in series. In 1968 he bed proposals for wall drawings, to be executed according to his instruction otion of @ ‘Conceptual Art’ had been variously canvassed since th bublicaton ofthis text provided the frst pubic grounds for recognition Fest published in Artforum, vol. 5, no. 10, Summer 1967, pp. 79-83, present text is taken. ” {...] 1 will refer to the kind of art in which I am involved 28 Gof In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that al. of and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is 1. perfund ‘The idea becomes a machine that makes the art, This kind theoretical or illustrative of theories; i is intuitive, itis involved of mental processes and itis purposeless It is usually free from the on the skill of the artist as a craftsman, It is the objective of thes concerned with conceptual art to make his work mentally inte Spectator, and therefore usually he would want it to become ‘There is no reason to suppose however, that the conceptual artist the viewer. It is ‘ly ‘the expectation of an emotional kick, t conditioned to expressionist artis accustomed, that would deter thea perceiving this at, Conceptual artis not necessarily logical. The logic of « pit Pieces is a device that is used at times only to be ruined. Logi ‘0 camouflage the real intent ofthe artist, to lull the viewer into t he understands the work, or to infer a paradoxical situation (uel ilogic)” The ideas need’ not be complex. Most ideas that are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearanc Decause they seem inevitable, In terms of idea the artis is free" Yimself, Ideas are discovered by intuition, : What the work of art looks like isn't too important, Te has ‘omething if it has physical form, No matter what form it may fi nust begin with an idea, It is the process of conception and: rea VIIA Objecthood and Reductivism 835 the artist is concerned. Once given physical reality by the artist the work fo the perception ofall, including the artist (use the word “perception? the apprehension of the sense data, the objective understanding of the simultaneously a subjective interpretation of both.) The work of an ly be perceived after it is completed. hat is meant for the sensation of the eye primarily would be called ul rather than conceptual. This would inelude most optical, kinetic, he functions of conception and perception are contradictory (one pre-, Postfact) the artist would mitigate his idea by applving subjece Bement to it. If the artist wishes to explore his idea thoroughly, thea chance. decisions would be kept toa minimum, while caprice, amd other whimsies would be eliminated from the making of the wre Bark does not necessarily have to be rejected if it does not look, well ss what is inically thought to be awkward will eventually be visually It the basic form and rules that would govern the Bot the problem. After that the fewer decisions made in the course of ESE the work, the better. This eliminates the arbitrary, the capricious, Béubjective as much as possible. That is the reason for using this method 1od he usually chooses a simple Hly available form. The form itself is of very limited importance’ ie fhe grammar for the total work. In fact itis best that the basic nn Beetel) unimerestng so that it may more easily become an intr: por Patte work. Using complex basic forms only disrupts the unity of the Sing 2 simple form repeatedly narrows the field of, the work and Mes the intensity to the arrangement of the form! "This arrangement the end while the form becomes the means Pau at doesn’t really have much to do with mathematics, philosophy Bet mental discipline. The mathematics used by most artists is single aaa, cimple number systems. The philosophy of the work is imple Hk and is not an illustration of any system of philosophy vt really matter if the viewer understands the concepts of the artist the art. Once out of his hand the artist has no control over the wy Bren Petesive the work, Different people will understand the same shiay by there has been much written about minimal art, but I have not mainvone who admits to doing this kind of thing. There are other ae Pid called primary structures, reductive, elective, col, and minhan J know will own up to any of these either. ‘Therefore T conclude th fa secret language that art crties use when communicating with cat Brough che medium of art magazines. |. }836 Institutions and Objections If the artist carries through his idea and makes it into visible form the steps in the process are of importance. The idea itself, even if visual is ‘25 much 2 work of art as any finished product. All inter ~ scribbles, sketches, drawings, failed work, models, studies, thoughts, sations ~ are of interest, Those chat show the thought process of the sometimes more interesting than the final product Determining what size a piece should be is difficult. If an idea requ «dimensions then it would seem any size would do. The question woul size is best, If the thing were made gigantic then the size alones impressive and the idea may be lost entirely. Again, if it is too small become inconsequential. The height of the viewer may have some: the work and also the size of the space into which it will be placed. may wish to place objects higher than the eye level of the viewer, think the piece must be large enough to give the viewer whatever he needs to understand the work and placed in such « way that this understanding. (Unless the idea is of impediment and requires vision or access.) Space can be thought of as the cubic area occupied by a threes volume, Any volume would occupy space. It is air and cannot be interval between things that can be measured, The intervals and 1 can be important to a work of art. If certain distances are importa bbe made obvious in the piece. If space is relatively unimportant regularized and made equal (things placed equal distances apart) any interest in interval. Regular space might also become a metric a kind of regular beat or pulse. When the interval is kept regul irregular gains more importance. é Architecture and three-dimensional art are of completely oppost ‘The former is concerned with making an area with a specific fun tecture, whether it is a work of art or not, must be urilitariamit completely. Art is not utilitarian. When three-dimensional art sta some of the characteristics of architecture such as forming utilit wweahens.jts function as art. When the viewer is dwarfed by the piece this domination emphasizes the physical and emotive power at the expense of losing the idea of the piece n New materials are one of the great afilictions of contemporary artists confuse new materials with new ideas. There is nothing worse art that wallows in gaudy baubles. By and large most artists who. to these materials are the ones that lick the stringency of mind enable them to use the materials well. It takes 4 good artist to use and make them into a work of art. The danger is, 1 thinky physicality of the materials so important that it becomes the idea (another kind of expressionism). ‘Three-dimensional art of any kind is a physical fact. This ph ‘most obvious and expressive content. Conceptual art made to ena of the viewer rather than his eye or emotions. The physicality of sional object then becomes 4 contradietion to its non-emotive VIIA Objecthood and Recuctivism 837 fe, texture, and shape only emphasize the physical aspects of the work. thing that calls attention to and interests the viewer in this physicality is a ent to our understanding of the idea and is used as an expressive device jceptual artist would want to ameliorate this emphasis on materiality as fas possible or to use it in a paradoxical way. (To convert it into an idea.) ind of art then, should be stated with the most economy of means. Any fat is better stated in two dimensions should not be in three dimensions, iy also be stated with numbers, photographs, or words or any way the chooses, the form being unimportant. ge paragraphs are not intended as categorical imperatives but the ideas sare as close as possible to my thinking at this time.’ These ideas are the jof my work as an artist and are subject to change as my experience T have tried to state them with as much clarity as possible. If the ts T make are unclear it may mean the thinking is unclear. Even while ig these ideas there seemed to be obvious inconsistencies (which I have @ correct, but others will probably slip by). I do not advocate ¢ conceptual art for all artists, [ have found that it has worked well for me while is have not. It is one way of making art: other ways suit other artists T think all conceptual art merits the viewer's attention. Conceptual art good when the idea is good. farms of atthe concept ma be changed in the process of execution es are lpia in conception and illoial percept the term ‘work ofr’ because Iam notin foro of work andthe term sounds pretentious ent know what other ser co se, S| LeWitt ‘Sentences on Conceptual Art’ this text was publshed, Conceptual Art was widely recognized as an avantgarde movement witha large number of adherents, and incorporating et of theoretical positions in adcition to LeWit's. The ‘Sentences’ were originally H in ArtLanguage, vol. I, no.-1, Coveney, May;1969 (for this opening issue ~ ignated The Journal of Conceptual Art). Bceptual Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to con- ns that logic cannot reach nal judgements repeat rational julgements. i judgements lead to new experience mal Artis essentially rational onal thoughts should be followed absolutely and logically hearst changes his mind midway through the execution of the piece Rompronises the result and repeats past results artist's will is secondary to the process he initiates from idea to Molton, His wilfulness may only be ego. Bt words such as painting and sculpture are wsed they connote a whole lon and imply a consequent acceptance ofthis tradition, thus placingillogi ‘udiey Wha ometh, aust b 838 Institutions and Objections beyond the limitations. ‘a The cng snd et edict The frm inp hie do ESS econo ad epee al Tins seo gee oe may crag fnd bral AN aoc so ice eee eee eae Tad mal eee ceed, : A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the aris the viewer But it may never feah the newer, Te maya aie ind ie ‘The words of one ants to another may induce an dens ch the sane hg ; Since ne form i intinsically superior to another, the det form, from an expression of word, (vite o spoke) caval If words are used, and they proceed from ideas about arti art and not literature, numbers are not mathematics All ideas are art if they are concerned with art and conventions of art One usually understands the art of the past by applying the the present thus misunderstanding the art of the past... The conventions of art are altered by works of art Successful art changes our understanding of the convent ‘our perceptions, Perception of ideas leads to new ideas. ‘The artist cannot imagine his art, and cannot perced complete Ong, qrtist may mis-perceive (understand it differently 1 work of art but still be set off in his own chain off misconstrual Perception is subjective, The artist may not necessarily understand his own art. neither better nor worse than thet of others An artist may perceive the art of others better than-his-@ ‘The concept of a work of art may involve the matter ofa process in which ir is made. ‘Once the idea of the piece is established in the artist's il form is decided, the process is carried out blindly. side-effects that the artist cannot imagine. These may! be new works, The process is mechanical and should not be tampered with Vila. Objecthood and Reductvism 839 are many elements involved in a work of art. The most important | the most obvious. artist uses the same form in a group of works, and changes the rial, one would assume the artist's concept involved the material. falideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution, difficult to bungle a good idea an artist learns his craft too well he makes slick art, sentences comment on art, but are not art. Bert Barry (b. 1936) Interview with Arthur R, Rose ay 1969 the aventgarde dealer Seth Siegelaub staged an exhibition in a ‘empty office space in New York. The exhibition was given the title ofits nuary 5-31 1969’, The artists involved were Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, her's One Standard Air Force dye marker thrown into the sea and Barry's 88 Wave (FM). To provide publicity for the exhibition, the artists concocted four using the Ducharrpian name ‘Arthur R. Rose’ for ther ficttious interlocutor. ‘originally published in Arts Magazine, vol. 43, no. 4, New York, February 22-3, Barry here gives voice to that extreme form af reductivism which was Bistic of some American forms of postMinimal and Conceptual Art did you arrive at the kind of work you are now doing? Tes a logical continuation of my earlier work. A few years ago when Painting, it seemed that paintings would look one way in one place ecause of lighting and other things, would look different in another Although it was the same object, it was another work of art. Then I Paintings which incorporated as part of their design the wall on which mg. I finally gave up painting for the wire installations (two of in the show). Each wire installation wag made to suit the place in bit vas installed. They cannot be moved without being destroyed, Became arbitrary. I started using thin transparent nylon monofilament. ‘the wire became so thin that it was virtually invisible. This ted se of a material which is invisible, or at least not perceivable in a ml way. Although this poses problems, it also presents endless possi- Ie was at this point that I discarded the idea that art is necessarily i t0 look at. F work is wot pexesivable, how does anyone deal with it ur even know im not only questioning the limits of our perception, but the actual Bof perception. These forms certainly do exist, they are controlled and Beir own characteristic. They are made of various kinds of energy which ide the narrow arbitrary limits of our own senses, I use various i 4 produce the energy, detect it, measure it, and define its form, i