CLARIFICATION: This is one of the notes that (half jokingly and half seriously) I will make about the art world, art critics, gallerists and about economics in art. Misfortunes must be seen with grace, that this is intractable.
At the end of this post: Recipe WO Orons, to become a concept artist, in a minute (And it is very effective)
What is conceptual art and what is it for?
Snobbery cultureta and sells fumes:
I woke up one morning, some time ago, and I came across this "Conceptual Art" thing.
I don't mean Concept Art, which is about designing characters, ships and landscapes for comics or video games.
I'm talking about sticking a banana with American ribbon on a wall, invisible sculptures, glasses with water, and trash scattered on the floor of galleries and museums.
They'll give me the prize for the asshole of the century. It was what I instantly thought – A life studying drawing and painting and for what?
So that same day, I decided to become a Conceptual Artist.
After eating the last chorizo of a barbecue that we had made at Christmas, I took a photograph of the half-scorched thread of the chorizo that in one of its ends still preserved, like an inch of the praised delicacy.
I gave him a bombastic name (as the great Salvador Dalí advised) and published it in networks, if I remember correctly, asking for fifty thousand euros, a bargain.
That thread had witnessed how I had eaten an exquisite chorizo, of perfectly balanced flavors, with its right touch of spice and its perfect salt point.
But as always, within my bad luck, my work of € 50,000, eventually went to waste, thanks to artistic misunderstanding, because my work, smelled of chorizo in poor condition, goes, to rotten chorizo.
Comedian
The banana stuck to the wall than in 2019, presented by the conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan at Art Basel in Miami, it was auctioned for $6.2 million (about €5.8 million) at Sotheby’s in New York.
But: What is Conceptual Art?
The Conceptual Art is an artistic current in which the idea or concept behind the work is more important than its physical or aesthetic appearance. In other words, what you want to communicate or provoke in the viewer has more weight than the material execution of the piece.
Conceptual art emerged in the 60s and 70s, mainly in the United States and Europe, as a reaction against traditional and commercial art. Artists as Marcel Duchamp (precursor), Sol LeWitt, Joseph Kosuth, Yoko Ono o Bruce Nauman explored the notion that “the idea is art”.
They say: The idea takes precedence over the form: The value of the work lies in the thought it proposes, not necessarily in its technique or visual beauty.
Dematerialisation of art: Many works are texts, instructions, performances or simple everyday objects with a new meaning.
Criticism of the art system: It questions the notion of authorship, the art market and the obsession with the artistic object as a product. (Although "conceptual art" is sold as such)
Involvement of the spectator: It often requires the audience to reflect, interpret, or complete the meaning of the work. (So they don't bother explaining bullshit)
Bicycle wheel (1913)
In 1913, Marcel Duchamp decided to place a bicycle wheel attached to a wooden bench in his Paris studio. The first version of the work was lost, as was the 1916 version. The artist later recreated it in 1951.
(By "rebuilt" it means that he ruined another bench and another bicycle)
Yoko Ono.
(The cursed inheritance left to us by John Lennon)
According to experts: Without greater expository pretensions, the piece is made up of a green apple placed on an acrylic pedestal with the word Apple engraved on a gold plate; However, it could be said that this is not finished, since the fruit, not having any type of treatment to stop its eminent putrefaction, will eventually begin to deteriorate, to the point that its materiality and shape do not match the image that comes to our mind when we think of an apple.
Conceptual art does not seek to impress visually, but make you think. It's an art form that puts the mind of the artist and the viewer at the center of the aesthetic experience.
Can anyone be a Conceptual Artist?
First, I will give the "adequate, official, politically correct" explanation about being a conceptual artist, and then an example to my style.
What does it take to be a Conceptual Artist?
Being Conceptual Artist does not mean just mastering a technique, but learn to think like an idea maker. Below I detail what is needed, both in the sense mental as practical, according to the conceptual art approach:
Mentality and artistic intention
- Prioritize ideas on form: the essential is what you want to communicate y why.
- Ability to question: the conceptual artist observes the world and wonders about things such as ‘what is art?’, ‘what does it mean to represent?’, ‘why is something worth more than something else?’
- Critical and philosophical thinking: reflect on topics such as language, identity, power, religion, consumption, perception or time. (And the price of bananas)
- Conceptual originality: It is not a question of doing something that “looks different”, but of proposing an idea that forces us to look at reality from a different angle.
Training and skills
- Although conceptual art may seem “anti-technical”, Knowing the artistic fundamentals is very useful:
- Knowledge of History of Contemporary Art and avant-garde movements (Duchamp, Fluxus, Minimalism, Arte Povera, etc.)
- Ability to choose the right medium: can be painting, photography, installation, performance, text, sound, video, everyday objects, etc.
- Ability to document and present your ideas (text, manifests, dashes, diagrams, etc.)
The Italian artist Salvatore Garau sold an invisible sculpture for $17,000. The one he called "Io Sono" (I am), has no physical form and was exposed in an empty space of 1.5 m x 1.5 m. The happy buyer received a certificate,that said there was a sculpture there.
In the photo, "the artist posing next to his sculpture"
Influence of context
Conceptual art also draws on:
- Readings of philosophy, semiotics, aesthetics, sociology or politics.
- Connection with contemporary thinking, more than with visual fashion.
- Constant curiosity for how symbols, language and culture work.
Conceptual art open the door to anyone because does not require mastering traditional techniques (such as painting, sculpting, or drawing well). The essential thing is have a solid idea, a clear intention and the ability to communicate it.
Anybody you can try, but not just anyone achieves it
- Think critically, not just “having occurrences”.
- Knowing how to justify the work, explain its meaning and its relationship with the cultural context.
- Knowing contemporary art, so as not to repeat ideas already explored.
- Consistency: Your works must maintain a line of thought, a discourse. (That if the speech is not good don't sneak it to anyone)
Now I will give you the explanation to my style:
Early in the morning, 5:30 (time to draw) after having a coffee with toast, I thought: – I could make some work of Conceptual Art, but something quick, that today I must finish a caricature that I was commissioned.
But I didn't think at all, neither critical spirit, nor philosophical, nor anything.
WO Orons Recipe to Become a Conceptual Artist
Easy recipes, fast, and in a minute to be able to self-proclaim "ARTIST"
What to do? - I thought.
It was when I lit a cigarette that divine art came to me, wrapped me and rocked me in its arms, as I sang to my ear the sweet melody of the ode to artistic inspiration.
The lighter!
(Because: “the essential is invisible to the eyes”)
The One-Minute Recipe that makes you a Conceptual Artist
That neither readings of philosophy, semiotics, aesthetics, sociology or politics.
So I went to the PTG or GTP Chat or whatever and asked him:
–I'm going to do an exhibition in an art gallery, and I'm going to put on a lighter. It's my conceptual artwork. I need a title for my work and a high-sounding explanation of my work . Can you make me one?
And he backed me up: You want it in tone solemn and philosophical (as catalogue text)
-Okay
And this is what he did to me:
Title: “Ontology of Daily Fire”
The lighter, presented here in his naked presence, invites a reflection on the essential condition of fire and its link with human experience. Minimal object, almost invisible in routine, becomes a symbol of ancestral tension: the dominion over energy and the fragility of that power.
In this work, fire is no longer manifested as a natural element, but as a content, potential concept, waiting for the human gesture that awakens it. The piece proposes a look at the relationship between technology and myth, between need and desire. The lighter – the container of domesticated fire – becomes a metaphor for the will to create, but also for the imminence of disappearance: a fire that only exists if someone decides to light it.
“Ontology of Daily Fire” does not seek to glorify the object, but to reveal its symbolic dimension: the instant when the functional is transmuted into transcendence. In the stillness of its industrial form, the lighter is transformed into a meditation on origin, destruction and the persistent search for meaning in the most banal of existence.
It does not hurt to communicate, that "My Work" is available for 25.ooo€. I deliver a certificate, not the lighter,
In a next note I will tell you: Who buys so much trash?
English