¿Quién le teme al arte conceptual?

Summary

El arte conceptual ha sido un campo de innovación y provocación en el mundo artístico, desafiando la percepción tradicional de lo que constituye una obra de arte. Este script explora la evolución del arte conceptual desde sus inicios con Marcel Duchamp hasta las audaces creaciones de artistas contemporáneos como Katie Patterson. A través de obras que van desde el uso de objetos cotidianos hasta la incorporación de la tecnología y la participación del público, el arte conceptual ha logrado hacer que los espectadores piensen, se rían y sientan emocionalmente involucrados. La obra de artistas como Piero Manzoni, Martin Creed y Robert Montgomery demuestra cómo el arte conceptual no es solo una simple decoración, sino una poderosa herramienta para la reflexión y la comunicación de ideas.

Takeaways

• 🎨 El arte conceptual no requiere mucha habilidad ni es particularmente hermoso a simple vista, pero desafía la percepción tradicional del arte.
• 🤔 La naturaleza del arte conceptual a menudo es enigmática y a veces frustrante, pero invita a la reflexión y al cuestionamiento del espectador.
• 🧐 Marcel Duchamp es considerado un innovador fundamental en el arte conceptual, al presentar objetos cotidianos como obras de arte.
• 💭 Piero Manzoni, con su obra que含excremento humano, desafió los límites de la propiedad y el valor artístico, poniendo de manifiesto la importancia de la idea sobre la物质 (materia).
• 📜 El trabajo de Martin Creed, como su pieza número 88, un papel crumpled, resalta la simplicidad y la belleza en las formas más sencillas y cotidianas.
• 🌐 El arte conceptual a menudo utiliza la palabra y el lenguaje para transmitir mensajes más allá de la estética, a menudo con un componente crítico o político.
• 📚 La obra de Mary Kelly, 'Post Partum Document', utiliza el registro detallado de la relación madre-hijo para explorar temas emocionales y la identidad femenina.
• 🌟 Robert Montgomery lleva el arte conceptual al mundo real a través de piezas que usan el texto para conmover y reflexionar a una audiencia más amplia.
• 🎭 El performance art, aunque controvertido, ha sido utilizado por artistas como Vito Acconci y Yoko Ono para explorar la interacción entre el cuerpo humano y el arte.
• 🌌 Katie Patterson trabaja con ideas grandiosas relacionadas con el espacio y el tiempo, con obras que transforman elementos ordinarios en experiencias artísticas únicas.
• 🚀 El arte conceptual no tiene límites en la imaginación del artista y puede incluir una amplia gama de materiales y tácticas para explorar y cuestionar la realidad.
• 💡 La participación del espectador es crucial en el arte conceptual; su interpretación y respuesta a la obra son esenciales para su plena apreciación.

Q & A

¿Qué es el arte conceptual y cómo deberíamos abordarlo?

El arte conceptual es una práctica artística que se centra en la idea o el concepto detrás de una obra en lugar de su ejecución o apariencia física. Debemos abordarlo con una mente abierta, dispuestos a reflexionar sobre las ideas y a cuestionar nuestras percepciones de lo que es arte.

¿Quién fue el primer gran innovador del arte conceptual y cuál fue su contribución?

El primer gran innovador del arte conceptual fue Marcel Duchamp. Su contribución fue presentar objetos cotidianos como arte, una práctica que desafió la distinción entre objetos y arte y que dio comienzo al arte conceptual.

¿Cómo describiríais la obra de Piero Manzoni, 'Artist's Shit'?

Piero Manzoni creó 'Artist's Shit' como una provocación al mundo del arte, presentando latas que alegadamente contenían su propia excremento y vendiéndolas por su peso en oro. Esta obra cuestiona el valor y la naturaleza del arte, y ha sido interpretada como una crítica a la pretenciosidad del mundo artístico.

¿Qué es 'Work number 88' de Martin Creed y qué significa?

'Work number 88' de Martin Creed es una hoja de papel A4 arrugada en una bola. La obra representa una idea y desafía la noción de lo que es arte, al mismo tiempo que explora la simplicidad y la belleza en formas que parecen ser desechos o residuos.

¿Cómo se relaciona el arte conceptual con las palabras y el lenguaje?

El arte conceptual a menudo utiliza las palabras y el lenguaje para transmitir su mensaje o para cuestionar la naturaleza del arte mismo. Las palabras pueden ser más significativas que las imágenes y, a veces, se utilizan para subvertir o explicar las obras de arte.

¿Por qué podría alguien considerar que el arte conceptual es una estafa o un engaño?

Algunas personas pueden considerar que el arte conceptual es una estafa o un engaño porque a menudo parece no requerir la habilidad artística tradicional y puede no ser apreciado por su belleza inmediata. Sin embargo, el arte conceptual suele ser una provocación intelectual que desafía a los espectadores a reconsiderar lo que significa y valorar el arte.

¿Cómo es la experiencia de un espectador al interactuar con una obra de arte conceptual?

La experiencia del espectador con una obra de arte conceptual puede ser desafiante y reflexiva. A menudo, se espera que el espectador no solo observe la obra sino que también la analice, la interprete y, en última instancia, que la idea detrás de la obra provoque una respuesta emocional o una reflexión personal.

¿Cómo se puede ver la obra de Katie Patterson dentro del ámbito del arte conceptual?

La obra de Katie Patterson, que abarca conceptos amplios como el espacio, el tiempo y el cosmos, se alinea con el arte conceptual en su enfoque de explorar ideas y conceptos a través de la experiencia del espectador. Su trabajo invita a la imaginación y a la participación activa del espectador para que las obras cobren significado.

¿Por qué el arte conceptual a menudo se considera pretencioso o elitista?

El arte conceptual a menudo se considera pretencioso o elitista porque muchas de sus obras requieren un conocimiento previo o una capacidad de interpretación que puede no ser accesible para todos. Además, la naturaleza intelectual y a veces abstracta del arte conceptual puede hacer que parezca excluyente o difícil de entender para el público en general.

¿Cómo ha evolucionado el arte conceptual desde su inicio hasta la actualidad?

El arte conceptual ha evolucionado desde su inicio, donde Marcel Duchamp presentó objetos found como arte, hasta abarcar una amplia gama de prácticas artísticas que incluyen el uso de palabras, el cuerpo, la performance y la tecnología. Hoy en día, el arte conceptual sigue explorando y cuestionando las fronteras del arte y su relación con la sociedad y la cultura.

¿Por qué es importante el arte conceptual y cómo deberíamos abordarlo como público?

El arte conceptual es importante porque desafía las convenciones y nos invita a reconsiderar nuestras percepciones de lo que es arte. Como público, deberíamos abordarlo con curiosidad y disposición para reflexionar y cuestionar, más allá de su apariencia inmediata, para apreciar la idea y la provocación detrás de cada obra.

Outlines

00:00

🎨 El arte conceptual de Martin Creed

Se describe la llegada de un paquete que contiene una obra de arte conceptual de Martin Creed, uno de los artistas más celebrados de Gran Bretaña. El narrador comparte su experiencia al abrir la obra con un escalpelo y reflexiona sobre la naturaleza aparentemente simple y el precio que pagó por ella. Esto lo lleva a cuestionar la relevancia y el valor del arte conceptual y su capacidad para desafiar la percepción del público.

05:04

🧐 La provocación de Marcel Duchamp

Se explora la subversión intencional de Marcel Duchamp, quien con su obra desafió la noción tradicional de arte. Duchamp, al igual que otros artistas conceptuales, puso de manifiesto que lo que importa es la idea y no el objeto en sí. Se mencionan a otros artistas como Piero Manzoni, quien con su obra provocativa, desafió los límites de la decencia y la percepción del valor artístico.

10:04

🤔 La reflexión de Martin Creed sobre su obra

El narrador visita a Martin Creed para entender las ideas detrás de su obra 'Work number 88', una hoja de papel crumpled. Creed comparte su proceso creativo y la intención detrás de su obra, que busca hacer belleza a partir de lo cotidiano y aparentemente insignificante. Se discute la naturaleza de lo que es arte y lo que no, y cómo el arte conceptual puede ser tanto una provocación como una fuente de reflexión.

15:11

📜 El poder de las palabras en el arte

Se aborda el uso de las palabras en el arte conceptual, desde la obra de un humorista francés hasta la obra de Michael Craig-Martin y Sol LeWitt. Se destaca cómo las palabras pueden ser tan significativas como las imágenes y cómo el arte conceptual a menudo se vuelve a la introspección y la emoción, como en la obra de Mary Kelly 'Post-Partum Document'.

20:11

🌟 El arte conceptual en el mundo real

Se presenta a Robert Montgomery, un artista que lleva el arte conceptual al mundo exterior de la galería a través de piezas en el espacio público. Se discute cómo el arte conceptual puede ser accesible y provocador a la vez, y cómo Montgomery utiliza la tecnología de la publicidad para transmitir mensajes poéticos y políticos.

25:13

💃 El arte del cuerpo y la performance

Se examina la performance art y cómo los artistas han utilizado su cuerpo como medio artístico. Se mencionan obras de Vito Acconci, Yoko Ono, y la performance de Bruce McLean que cuestionó la naturaleza de la escultura. Se destaca cómo la performance art puede ser una forma de arte social y político que busca cambiar la sociedad y la política.

30:14

🌐 El arte conceptual y los medios de comunicación

Se explora cómo los artistas conceptuales han utilizado los medios de comunicación para transmitir mensajes políticos y desafiar la audiencia. Se habla de Chris Burden, quien con su obra provocó una reflexión sobre la desensibilización a la violencia, y de Christian Jankowski, quien realizó diversas travesuras mediáticas para cuestionar la sociedad y el arte.

35:15

🚀 El arte conceptual y la exploración cósmica

Se presenta a Katie Patterson, una artista que trabaja con ideas grandiosas relacionadas con el espacio y el tiempo. Se describe su obra, que incluye enviar una partitura al espacio y recogerla de regreso, crear un candle que huele a espacio exterior, y compilar 10,000 imágenes de eclipses solares. Se discute cómo el arte conceptual puede ser una forma de explorar y comprender nuestra posición en el universo.

40:15

🌌 El arte conceptual más allá de la decoración

Se concluye la exploración del arte conceptual destacando su relevancia y el desafío que representa. Se argumenta que el arte conceptual, con sus ideas ambiciosas y su capacidad para involucrar al espectador, es mucho más que mera decoración y que es esencial para la reflexión y la comprensión de nuestra realidad.

Keywords

💡Arte conceptual

El arte conceptual se centra en las ideas y conceptos más que en la estética o habilidad técnica en el arte tradicional. En el video, se explora cómo el arte conceptual desafía la percepción del arte y su valor, destacando obras de artistas como Marcel Duchamp y Katie Patterson, que transforman objetos cotidianos o conceptos astrales en piezas de arte profundamente significativas.

💡Marcel Duchamp

Marcel Duchamp fue un pionero del arte conceptual, conocido por presentar objetos del día a día como 'ready-mades', es decir, obras de arte listas para ser tal. En el video, se menciona su trabajo con 'ready-mades', como la famosa 'Fountain', un inodoro presentado como una escultura, que cuestionó la naturaleza del arte.

💡Piero Manzoni

Piero Manzoni fue un aristócrata italiano y artista conceptual que cuestionó la naturaleza del objeto artístico de formas inusuales. En el video, se destaca su obra 'Artist's Shit', una serie de latas que supuestamente contienen su excremento y que se venden por su peso en oro, lo que desafía la percepción del valor y autenticidad en el arte.

💡Martin Creed

Martin Creed es un artista conceptual británico conocido por su obra 'Work No. 88: A sheet of A4 paper crumpled into a ball', que cuestiona la percepción de lo que constituye una obra de arte. En el video, se discute cómo esta obra, que many podría considerar una simple papel arrugado, desafía las expectativas y的定义 de arte.

💡Katie Patterson

Katie Patterson es una artista conceptual contemporánea que trabaja con ideas sobre el espacio, el tiempo y el cosmos. En el video, se describe su obra 'The Moonlight Sonata', que envía el código Morse de la sonata a la Luna y la recibe de regreso, creando una nueva versión de la obra original influenciada por la superficie lunar.

💡Performance Art

El performance art es una forma de arte conceptual que implica la participación del artista en acciones o representaciones en vivo. En el video, se mencionan performances de artistas como Vito Acconci y Yoko Ono, que utilizaron su cuerpo y la interacción con el público para crear experiencias artísticas únicas.

💡Chris Burden

Chris Burden fue un artista conceptual que utilizó su propio cuerpo en performances extremas para explorar la capacidad de endurecimiento de la audiencia. En el video, se describe su obra 'Shoot', en la que se disparó a sí mismo con una escopeta de 22, como una crítica a la desensibilización a la violencia en la sociedad.

💡Christian Yankovsky

Christian Yankovsky es un artista conceptual que utiliza bromas y pranks para cuestionar y satirizar la sociedad y el mercado del arte. En el video, se discute su enfoque de involucrar a otros en sus obras, como el talent show ficticio 'Casting Jesus', que explora la representación de Jesús a través de la televisión y la cultura popular.

💡Valor del arte

El valor del arte es un tema recurrente en el video, donde se cuestiona si el arte conceptual requiere habilidad técnica o si su valor reside en la provocación y la idea detrás de la obra. Se discute cómo el arte conceptual a menudo desafía la noción tradicional de valor artístico, poniendo de relieve la importancia de la idea y la experiencia del espectador.

💡Participación del espectador

La participación del espectador es fundamental en el arte conceptual, ya que a menudo se espera que el público interactúe con la obra o que su percepción y interpretación den vida a la misma. En el video, se destaca cómo obras de artistas como Katie Patterson requieren la imaginación y la participación activa del espectador para ser completamente apreciadas.

💡Ideas artísticas

Las ideas artísticas son el núcleo del arte conceptual, donde la creatividad y la innovación en la concepción de una obra son más importantes que las técnicas tradicionales de creación. El video explora cómo artistas como Patterson y Duchamp han utilizado ideas革命性 para expandir los límites del arte y proporcionar nuevas perspectivas sobre la realidad y la experiencia humana.

Highlights

Un paquete valioso ha llegado, contiene una obra de arte conceptual de Martin Creed, uno de los artistas más celebrados de Gran Bretaña.

La obra, adquirida en línea por 180 libras, incluye instrucciones específicas para abrirla con un escalpelo.

La confusión entre objetos y arte comenzó a principios del siglo XX, desafiando la distinción entre lo bello y lo funcional.

Marcel Duchamp, considerado el innovador principal del arte conceptual, presentó objetos cotidianos como "ready-mades".

Piero Manzoni, un aristócrata italiano, cuestionó la naturaleza del objeto artístico con obras que incluían su propia materia fecal.

La obra de Manzoni, que contenía excremento, se vendió en Christie's por 182,500 libras, casi 200 veces más caro que el oro.

Martin Creed, galardonado con el Premio Turner, ha convertido una amplia gama de objetos en arte, incluyendo una papelera crumpleada.

Cread desciende la esfera perfecta de una papelera, reflejando su interés en la belleza de las formas geométricas.

El arte conceptual no se trata de si es arte o no, sino de si es divertido, original y si nos hace pensar.

Alphonse Allaíz, humorista francés, introdujo imágenes simples de papel coloreado cuyo significado solo se revelaba con sus títulos.

Michael Craig-Martin usó palabras para transformar un vaso de agua en un árbol de roble, utilizando texto para cambiar la percepción.

Sola LeWitt, artista estadounidense, consideraba que la idea se convertía en una máquina que produce arte.

Mary Kelly creó 'Post Partum Document', una obra íntima que explora su relación con su hijo mediante el análisis de intercambios diarios.

Robert Montgomery lleva el arte conceptual al mundo exterior de la galería, utilizando el texto en anuncios publicitarios y poemas.

El arte conceptual a menudo se asocia con la performance, poniendo al cuerpo del artista en el centro de las obras.

Bruce McLean desafió la naturaleza de la escultura, utilizando su propio cuerpo como parte de la obra.

Joseph Beuys, artista alemán, creó 'I like America and America likes me', una obra en la que compartió un espacio con un coyote durante tres días.

Los artistas conceptuales también utilizaron los medios de comunicación para transmitir mensajes políticos a través de actos audaces.

Chris Burden, artista que exploró el sufrimiento y la violencia en el nombre del arte, creando piezas que cuestionaban la desensibilización a la violencia.

Christian Jankowski, artista alemán, ha utilizado bromas en los medios para hacer preguntas profundas sobre la sociedad.

Katie Patterson, una de las talentos más emocionantes de su generación, ha trabajado con ideas sobre el espacio, el tiempo y el cosmos.

El arte conceptual de Patterson solo se hace real cuando el espectador está dispuesto a ponerse al día, completando el círculo de una gran idea artística.

Transcripts

a valuable package has just arrived it

contains a work of conceptual art by

Martin Crete one of Britain's most

celebrated artists I bought this piece

from Martin Creed's gallery online it

cost me a hundred and eighty pounds and

I've been given very specific

instructions on how to open it

apparently I have to use a scalpel to

prise this box open as delicately as I

can like this open it up

that's it Ignatz it something in here a

[Music]

certificate Martin Creed work number 88

a sheet of a4 paper crumpled into a ball

war

welcome to the puzzling sometimes

maddening world of conceptual art this

piece perhaps encapsulate why so many

people struggle with conceptual art it

doesn't seem to require much skill it's

not particularly beautiful and

ultimately it feels like a bit of a

ripoff but maybe we're all missing

something and so in this film I'm going

to attempt the near impossible to really

understand conceptual art what is

conceptual art and how should we

approach it and why should we care to

answer these and other questions I'm

going to examine its key works

meet the movers and shakers of today and

experience some cutting-edge

contemporary conceptual art in an

open-minded guide for the perplexed and

who knows by the end of it we might all

have changed our mind before the 20th

century there were objects and there

were artworks now let's begin with the

objects some objects were natural some

of them functional some of them not very

beautiful artworks on the other hand

were made by artists and they were very

beautiful and often very very expensive

now people were very happy with this

distinction they knew where they stood

but then about a hundred years ago that

system began to fall apart and what

happened was this objects became more

and more like artworks and artworks

became more and more like objects

gradually they began to swap places

until eventually it became difficult to

know which one was which

now this left a lot of people very

confused and some people very very angry

but it was the first major innovation of

conceptual art and its first great

innovator was the enigmatic frenchman

Marcel Duchamp the chain-smoking sphinx

of modern art Duchamp had started as a

painter but around 1913 he became

increasingly attracted to unassuming

everyday objects that he began

presenting as ready-made artworks a

bicycle wheel a bottle rack

[Music]

a snow shovel

and most famously you're going oh so

what was Duchamp up to with his taste

defying ready-mades this is the great

enemy of art AR t that was the

difficulty to find an object that had no

attraction whatsoever from from the

aesthetic angle of course humor came in

as an element it was very important for

me to introduce humor that was my

intention to do something that would not

please everybody hmm Marcel Duchamp was

being deliberately subversive while also

making a revolutionary point not

everything was art but anything could be

art why because the object didn't matter

any longer what mattered was the idea

the concept and that was the beginning

of what we've come to call conceptual

art dushawn did a hit and run on the art

world after dropping his conceptual

bombshell he abandoned it and became a

professional chess player instead but

his audacious acts opened the floodgates

[Applause]

[Music]

twentieth-century art abounds with his

disciples but one of the most original

was a mischievous Italian aristocrat

Piero Manzoni

was a self-taught artist who rose to

prominence with his a Chrome's a series

of white surfaced works made from

increasingly unusual materials

but by the end of the 1950's Manzoni

began questioning the nature of the art

object in bizarre new ways

he signed real bodies to make living

sculptures drew never-ending lines blew

up balloons and called the resulting

sculptures artists breath pressed his

thumbprint on two hard-boiled eggs for

the public to consume and even created

an upside-down plinth that presented the

whole world as a work of art but his

most notorious conceptual creation

pushed both art and propriety to their

limits in May 1961 Manzoni sat down and

produced 90 unique sculptures

he then tuned signed and numbered them

and they contained something well

surprising excrement man's own his own

excrement and if you don't believe me

just look at the label which helpfully

comes in four different languages

artists shipped contents 30 grams net

freshly preserved produced and tinned

may 1961

if you thought conceptual art was crap

here's your proof but Manzoni wasn't

done his outrageous asking price for

these little tins was a crucial part of

the artwork itself man's only declared

that each 30 grand tin was worth its

weight in gold actual gold now you might

think who in their right mind would want

to buy someone else's feces at alone for

the same price as gold well as it turns

out what a lot of people did last year

Christie's sold it in just like this

number 54

for a hundred and eighty two thousand

five hundred pounds and that made man

zonies turd gram for gram almost two

hundred times more expensive than gold

so what does it all mean is a turd the

ultimate person already made who is it

meant to provoke and what was man zonies

in-game I'll be honest I really don't

know what to make of this piece my

instinct is that man's only is making

fun of us he's making fun of museums

critics he's making fun of people have

got more money than sense he's making

fun of a whole madness of

pretentiousness of the art world and I

have to admit part of me feels like a

bit of an idiot for coming all this way

to look at something that is essentially

a [ __ ] on a plinth but you know thinking

about it I realized that for all its

silliness it is actually an extremely

clever conceit it could be anything in

that tin but we will never know because

as soon as we open that Tim the artworks

destroyed the value is lost so we will

never ever find out if this tin contains

anything

it contains an idea this piece feels

like a shit-filled hand grenade that

manzoni is from fifty five years into

the future and we still don't know how

to diffuse it no wonder he looks so

proud of himself Piero Manzoni died at

the age of 29 but he proved that

conceptual artists had a Midas touch a

good idea could convert practically

anything into a masterpiece and today

like Duchamp he's regarded as one of the

forefathers of conceptual art a

pioneering provocateur whose influence

lives on one of the figures he's helped

inspire is the artist who began this

program Turner Prize winner Martin Creed

[Music]

over a freewheeling career that includes

making music Creed has converted a whole

range of things into our blue tech empty

galleries with the lights coming on and

on and yes even excrement I've come to

Hackney in East London to meet Martin as

he launches a new album of songs and I'm

hoping he can shed some light on the

ideas behind work number 88 that

scrunched up ball of paper that cost me

a hundred and eighty pounds a few days

ago yeah I purchased this one of your

pieces work number 88 and I wonder if

you can help explain it well I was oh

yeah there you go yeah that's it yeah

that's a crumpled ball of paper inside a

nest of shredded people to keep it from

getting it crumpled up so tell me what

how did you how did you come to that

idea of doing that a friend was doing

these editions but he's making book

quotes leader of a4 paper he asked me if

I'd make a book I just couldn't think of

anything I could you know and put in a

bit and I thought well if I crumpled it

into ball the paper instead of making a

bit clover yeah and that was there and I

thought it's funny because it looks like

it's just a piece of garbage mm-hmm but

I tried to make it as beautiful years I

could so how do you do that do you have

a particular method that you used her

yeah pop and scrunching obviously yeah

the best way is to get the paper and and

loosely crumpling it before you actually

so you don't just try to make the ball

in one go usually about one in three of

the

so so what is it that you're looking for

you know when you say that two out of

three you throw away just what is wrong

with the two a perfect sphere you know

what she I mean at all it's never

perfect but I feel like the sphere or

circles a beautiful shape because equal

in all directions you know so you don't

have to decide how many of those giving

you've made through your career and well

I think they're numbered so but I don't

know what this is

695 Martin's quest for the perfect paper

ball reflects her broader interest in

things he's used cacti chairs and that

conceptual favorite balloon is filling

half a room with them in a work called

half the air in a given space but the

crumpled ball is perhaps the hardest

thing to appreciate as art a lot of

people and probably with a lot of our

viewers will be perplexed Rea this being

called art what would you say to those

people how would you try to answer their

concerns Hey

well I wouldn't argue I wouldn't really

want to argue with them because this is

you know I I wouldn't call this are

either but if it's not art

what is it was something that in I did

because I liked it yeah you know I'm

proud of this you know I wanted to get a

bed in the morning to do it you know I

thought it was worth doing I think a lot

of the little things in life are

important you know so not just all the

things that I made a golden over you

know he says anyway what's good and

what's bad if something is exciting and

it feels good that's the test of all

things you

[Music]

Marton Creed's a tricky man to pin down

and I'll admit I'm not totally convinced

by his paper ball but he's helped

persuade me of something really

important when confronted with

conceptual art we really shouldn't worry

about whether it's art or not because no

one really knows what art is instead we

should ask is it funny is it original

and perhaps most importantly does it

make us think and in a way this little

crumpled ball does all of those things

in 1897 a French humorist called

Alphonse

allez introduced the world to a series

of pictures each of them was a plain

sheet of colored paper

they appeared to depict nothing until

you read the titles this one was called

first communion of anemic young girls in

a snowstorm this one apoplectic

Cardinals harvesting tomatoes on the

shore of the Red Sea and this one which

I warn you isn't politically correct

Negros fighting in a cellar at night now

Olay was joking of course but his joke

was a really important moment in the

prehistory of conceptual art because it

showed that words can be more meaningful

than images

when conceptual art really kicked off in

the mid 1960s many of its leading

protagonists were so determined to purge

out of its decorative frilliness they

turned more and more to words in a

revolutionary atmosphere words were used

to explain subvert and occasionally

replace the art they described

[Music]

and the results were often tricky to

decipher one piece proved especially

mind-bending in 1973 Michael Craig

Martin placed a glass of water on a

shelf in a gallery and titled it an oak

tree the work was completed by an

accompanying text a philosophical

dialogue presented as a Q&A session

between artists and confused viewer to

begin with could you describe this work

yes of course what I've done is change a

glass of water into a full-grown an oak

tree it looks like a glass of water well

of course it does I didn't change its

appearance but it's not a glass of water

it's an oak tree haven't you simply

called this glass of water an oak tree

absolutely not it's not a glass of water

anymore seems to me that you are

claiming to have worked and miracle

isn't that the case I'm flattered that

you think so

in my opinion this was neither an oak

tree nor a glass of water it was an

empty exercise in semantics that

deliberately confused its audience but

Craig Martin agreed with do Shaw and

Manzoni when it comes to conceptual art

it's the thought that counts this was

certainly the view of the American

artist Sola wit in the 1960s he declared

the idea becomes a machine that makes

the art it is the objective of the

artist who is concerned with conceptual

art to make his work mentally

interesting to the spectator and

therefore usually he would want it to

become emotionally dry

this is one of my problems with

conceptual art it often puts the brain

before the heart but not all of it does

some artists use words to combine

intellectual curiosity with real

emotional power one of the most talented

was an American artist called Mary Kelly

and this is her stomach heavily pregnant

her resulting child went on to inspire

one of conceptual arts more intimate

works in post partum document Mary Kelly

recorded and analyzed her changing

relationship with her young son a

six-part series each section

concentrates on a different formative

moment between mother and child

blending unusual materials with words

[Music]

part-1 caused a scandal when first shown

in 1976 because Kelly used her son's

dirty nappy liners as a sort of canvas

onto which she typed a log of everything

he'd eaten that day this is the third

section of post partum document and a

police report there are no nappy stains

in sight in fact it doesn't nearly leap

out and grab you as a spectator it

consists of a series of small really

quite murky images that you could very

easily miss when you're walking through

the gallery so what we really need to do

is step in and take a much closer look

[Music]

the work is a kind of collaborative

diary from the autumn of 1975 when

Kelly's son first began nursery each

picture contains a mixture of writing

colored paper and her son's crayon

scribbles so what we're looking at is

three columns of text the first column

on the left that documents Mary Kelly's

son's own words on the date 13th of

September 1975 the second column to the

right of it that document Mary Kelly's

response to her son's words on the same

day and the third column which is

probably the most interesting and isn't

typed to turn written this contains Mary

Kelly's broader reflections on the

original exchange now it's quite

complicated at first but there is a

logic to it

and once you understand that three

column structure you can begin to

understand

entire piece and the closer you read the

more vividly their relationship comes to

life

[Music]

the demands of motherhood are clearly

taking their toll by the final image and

it actually records some very fraught

exchanges between mother and son he

refuses to go to sleep he's bossing her

about over pillows and stories he's

bossing me around he'll just have to

read the story I choose this time I'm

trying not to be weak and there's a

particularly moving passage here where

Kelly writes I feel somehow undermine

not resentful but just confused because

just being affectionate isn't enough

anymore he tests me I feel I have to

gain his respect where before I felt

assured of it simply because I was his

mother

Mary Kelly's art is about self

understanding but it takes effort to

understand it this art isn't simply for

looking at you have to read it analyze

it and decipher it and it repays your

hard work and I'm actually really

surprised at how powerful I find this

piece because when you start investing

it when you start getting up close and

reading it you really get drawn into

this very intimate emotional world

that's intelligent and witty and moving

conceptual art emotionally dry not here

that's for sure

[Music]

today artists inspired by conceptual art

are still trying to use words in fresh

ways one of them is Robert Montgomery

[Music]

Robert aims to take text art out of the

gallery and into the wider world from

like pieces to fire poems to public

billboards like this one of two pieces

he's invited me to come and see in

London today it's really exciting

watching me

two hours

[Applause]

[Music]

so the pieces up and it says the air

chases and scatters blue light more than

it scatters red light that's why the sky

is blue when we are cloudless when it is

big gushed the screens which took you

like butterflies now all your tomorrows

turned to electric waterfalls digital

culture created a new kind of

unconscious hipster capitalist unsub the

glamour from these glass towers blank

the sycophant ik neon undress in the

streets this summer make our

universities free again save our fragile

libraries this is no picture but it's

chock full of imagery you've got a

combination here of the romantic and the

political so it starts with this

wonderful description of sky and the

clouds almost pastoral set of lines but

then you finish with a very strong

dancing myself as traditional British

romantic came to in the innocence like

in the tradition of Turner like I want

to talk about those things I want to

talk about sort of romantic 27 sunsets

and I want to bring that into the dirty

or life of today you know my idea of

being an artist is to be engaged with

the sort of culture and politics a good

time in a real way it's also to do with

billboards in a way that finding the

discourse in conversation of the city

and that becoming increasingly a

conversation that treats us as only

consumers

I want to sucked on the subconscious

mind through a medium that's used to

sellers shampoo so you're using the

infrastructure of capitalism but you're

not trying to sell anything

in fact you're trying to provide an

antidote or to what people normally find

on their Street yeah I mean I'm not sure

I can be an answer to counselors and

just the my entirely open up like a more

sensitive state of mind in this place so

you find the people engage with these

pieces yeah I do worse than before I

started in this neighborhood tuned

billboard PCs let's see it would I see

illegally I'd see unauthorized Lee and I

get hugged quite a lot by too drunk

estate agents who were wandering home to

Essex in the car can see what an ad for

it's not an ad for anything

oh is it point who's that are they

dusters questions and I would say weed

it and see what you think and so the

question is to try to make poetry and

contemporary Simpson up in a hundred

words that it's accessible to people

accessible not normally a word you

associate with conceptual art so Robert

where are we heading now we're heading

down to Berman seawall East which is on

the south of the River Thames and we

have a light piece there today what is

it specifically about words that appeal

to you as a media and I think there's a

certain slowness to words I think I

think we probably live in the age of

accelerated image and we've been boarded

with like hundreds of images a day and

ironically in that context of words can

be a sort of moment of quiet or more of

pause

Wow the people you love become ghosts

inside of you and like this

you keep them alive it's a very personal

piece this one I had this really close

friend during art school called Shawn

Watson and he got hit by car on the edge

revolt and died very suddenly in 2004

and it was the first heartbreak of grief

with in my adult life from the sense and

I was it fed me really badly and then he

was into that I had this dream where

Shawn was just there he's just alive and

just around and I woke up the next day

happier than I'd gone to bed and I

thought okay this maybe is what ghosts

are made maybe ghosts are a positive

thing this very personal piece was

always intended for public display but

the scale of its impact caught Robert by

surprise if you search the people you

love the type of the piece and my name

you get four point three nine million

results in 0.7 seconds this is a tribute

page to a guy called Chico as always mr.

always loved to have a message and

that's how it's commonly used online

this was interesting this is a South

Korean rapper called Taeyang who sorta

gather in Paris went home to Korea and

just faked the whole thing including

this video or rapping in front of it he

seems to cause the point of it I'm not

sure he might get the point of it but

you certainly just made it on his own

and then you started to see it Epirus

tattoos gosh sometimes and then this is

a really beautiful incident it's a

brother and sister who I think had lost

her mum and they brought to ask if they

could get tattoos of each other reading

the text as a sound wave on write each

other's arms as a sort of tribute to the

mum and that was lovely because that was

them making their own art for me yeah

let's reinvented it yes it has it with

the life of its own

and people have got to really like this

piece to tattoo it onto their bodies I

mean that's pretty flattering it's

really nice I mean the thing is the

point of our is to touch the hearts of

strangers without the trouble of ever

having to meet them but if you can sort

of touch their hearts in the distance

and help a little bit you know from you

quiet sort of shitty event it's very

nice

[Music]

it's moving party mode makes you think

that the war time I think

the memories or what's happened along

again

we just came by the pad for a fight and

just saw it it's just like amazing like

you stopped in our tracks of it

I think against this dramatic sky

tonight as well as just like really

stood out put that job I mean for me I

think about relationships lost

especially was I'm not actually from

London I'm kind of like I left those

behind and then Here I am

[Music]

the statement is is kind of poignant for

us a moment as we have words it's like a

little discovery Roberts words aren't

exercises in empty semantics they're big

bold out in the real world

hungry for our attention and inviting us

to stop look think and feel and it

reminds me for something Robert said he

said the great thing about words as they

slow you down they slow you down as you

read them and that's what this piece has

done it is encourage people to briefly

put their lives on hold and reflect on

something really rather lovely I must

say I'm beginning to change my mind

about conceptual art

maybe it isn't as pretentious and

elitist as I once feared perhaps all we

need to do is give it a chance however

there's one facet of conceptual art that

still scares us and shows little sign of

being accepted by the public it's often

known as gulp performance art

of course art and the body have a long

and healthy history detailed study of

human anatomy and appearance from the

backbone of thousands of years of

artistic output but the body's full

potential was yet to be unleashed

[Music]

art isn't simply about the making lives

it can also be about doing things and

from the 1960s onwards a number of

conceptual artists involved on a spate

of maths performances and stunts and put

their own bodies at center stage in New

York artist Vito our country spent a

month following strangers through the

city streets for minutes and sometimes

hours at a time until he could no longer

track them a relatively unknown Japanese

artist called

Yoko Ono sat alone an impassive on stage

while her audience were invited to come

up and cut away her clothes

[Music]

and in London an irreverent performance

by a young man called Bruce McLean

attempted to redefine the nature of

sculpture

[Music]

so what was going on well fortunately

Bruce McLain is still very much active

and has suggested revisiting this

pivotal moment of conceptualism with me

Bruce hi good morning I see you too

all right what is this you're doing

sorry what are you doing at these poses

dude no no I'm just moving around the

plinth what limbering up so what we've

got here these are three prints yes

three different heights just about what

are they all about I was hoping you

weren't gonna answer that question for

far enough in 1971 I borrowed 50 plus or

the Tate for an installation called

objects no concern no concepts as

opposed to concepts no objects and three

somehow got left and I thought well what

can I do the reason they seem to require

some sort of sculpture he says there's a

play with them because I like play mmm I

think it's quite a construction that's

not walk yeah I could be the sculpture

off these plans now I can let Lee

splints determine what I did was my very

nimble and athletic dancer this body

that I had at that point in time so I

just got a good on them this was more

than just a series of self-portraits

here the artist became the art

[Music]

I moved in a helmet for a bit then I

moved in a handle for a bit did it for

one hour I think somebody said well why

don't we hold it over okay I can help

bring your leg up no thanks

notnot like cocking in this film what I

like about it is you've got the hints

yeah

this black of my photograph yeah it's

very formal at the same time it's used

subverting yeah a tradition yeah and

having a bit of a laugh but I mean I

wasn't doing it as I thought I was doing

it and I wasn't doing it as a solemn

worry but I thought well let's look at

these cliches and take up a part of it I

look at something I don't understand I'm

interested and where did you get the

idea of using your partner you know

making your body part of the sculpture

itself I like the idea that you can use

your body so you don't have to buy any

material you don't need a bit of wood

you don't need glue paint anything you

can make something up as you go along

with nothing then it was a time of a

student revolution coming from France

and the whole mood of the time was about

our global mode my global feeling young

people's thinking exchanging ideas being

part of what became known as conceptual

art when people didn't want to make

stuff with stuff for people to consume

in a variety consumerism we were there

to question of an issue of sculpture

while Bruce McClane played with the idea

of a femoral human sculpture others were

busy transforming their whole lives into

allegorical artworks the most mercurial

of them was a hugely influential German

artist called Joseph Boyce in 1970 four

boys flew into New York's JFK Airport he

was covered in a layer of felt loaded

onto a stretcher and taken by ambulance

to a West Broadway gallery

[Music]

it was all part of an elaborate

performance piece called I like America

and America likes me in which Boise was

to share a room with a wild coyote for

three whole days

confused you should be boys once

declared that art is not there to be

simply understood or we would have no

need for it understandably the coyote

was also somewhat mystified and fairly

angry to begin with but over time the

animal appeared to grow tolerant even

accepting of the eccentric artist and by

the end they'd formed something of a

friendship so was it just a stunt or was

their method in the madness the lycée

Boyce's performance was a strange but

powerful allegory about peace tolerance

and respect for nature

this was what boys called social

sculpture an art form that turned life

into art in order to change both

politics and society

[Music]

elsewhere conceptual artists took a more

direct approach and distributed their

political messages by any means

necessary

[Music]

in Brazil a young artist devised an

ingenious plan to combat his country's

oppressive us-backed military

dictatorship not with coyotes but coke

bottles

[Music]

silver Morelli's began by purchasing a

number of coca-cola bottles and then he

made some careful modifications the

bottle in the foreground reads Yankees

go home and the one in the middle has

the recipe from Molotov cocktail

now crucially when Marella's had made

his modifications he then sent these

bottles back out into circulation where

they were purchased in shops and drunk

by the public Marella is considered this

to be an act of guerrilla warfare

against capitalism against censorship

against dictatorship and he was fighting

his foes with conceptual

no Ellis's work again shows that

conceptual art takes many different

forms objects words bodies actions even

fizzy drinks but in the 1970s artists

found a new medium to exploit the media

itself I'd like to introduce myself my

name is Chris burden and today on this

tape I'm going to show you excerpts or

visual records from eleven different

pieces that I've done starting in 1971

into 1974

Chris burden pushed himself to the

limits in the name of art from balancing

above electrified water to being shot

with a 22 caliber rifle

here was a man intent on exploring what

both artist and audience could endure

holding my hands behind my back I

crawled through about 50 feet of glass

very few spectators saw this piece most

of them just passers-by

[Music]

strange this piece it's almost

unwatchable but at the same time you

can't stop watching it at least I can't

there is something horribly gripping

about observing another person suffering

that I think was the point this piece

was made during the Vietnam War and it

was all about people Americans becoming

increasingly desensitized to images of

death and violence that they were seeing

in the media burden realized that the

very same media could potentially be

infiltrated to shock and confuse his

fellow Americans and the television held

the biggest captive audience so in a

separate artistic act he created a

series of guerrilla TV adverts to be

broadcast almost subliminally amid the

normal schedule Ranko presents Good

Vibrations

what I do original is once you've been

watching is the advertisement that

actually precedes mine

well that was it he saw how short it was

I didn't have any illusions that people

understood this but I know it stuck out

like a sore thumb and that I had the

satisfaction of knowing that 250,000

people Saturday night and that it was

disturbing to them in a conceptual

master stroke the artist had hijacked

the medium of TV along with its audience

to think the burden actually bought

airtime and sent his commercials into

the homes of hundreds of thousands of

unsuspecting people it was utterly

audacious

[Music]

artists like Chris burden blazed an edgy

provocative trail in the relationship

between conceptual artists and the mass

media but they also reconnected with the

creative potential of the prank

[Music]

Christian yankovsky is a German artist

who has spent the last 25 years

masterminding a whole range of media

pranks but often rely on innocent

collaborators he spoofed supermarket

sweep style daytime TV

[Music]

persuaded a team of high-ranking Vatican

officials to cast Jesus in a talent show

contest and got polish weight lifters to

lift public sculptures in Warsaw from

mock TV sports show

[Music]

[Applause]

Christian's agreed to meet me at his

Berlin studio but I have to admit that

what with his track record by feeling a

little bit nervous I've been told to

just go with the flow and enjoy the

experience whatever happens do you like

to shock people Christian yes and and no

I'm in shock for the shock saying no I'm

interested in images and I'm interested

in seeing images I have not exactly seen

before and I was born in the 60s you

know I didn't grow up with looking at an

oil painting I grew up with looking at a

television set doesn't mean I'm not into

paintings I love paintings too I love

you know all kind of media's but I am

very much my thinking has been informed

a lot by television and one of the most

successful TV formats of the last 10

years I suppose been the talent show and

the piece I'm thinking about of yours

that relates to that is casting Jesus

mm-hmm did you tell me a little bit

about how that concept Howard idea came

about yeah I was in in in Rome and then

I thought in Italy about all of this

different artists over the centuries

that needed models to you know act as

Jesus because Jesus had to be refreshed

from century to century to really reach

the audience

and I thought hmm what are really strong

formats of our days and I thought the

casting show is a great format to bring

real vatican priests on board and be the

jury today avanti and have casting

agency to send two different Roman

actors that could act in the truces

world and so they were in competitions

with each other they in airplane in

front of these priests that had to you

know look for perfect rice watch a

yellow Porsche Sulaymaniyah called who

no name position is in Amman which

entities are you trying to make people

laugh is that important strategy of

yours and I think there's something

quite quite an artistic was humor

because you can express feelings you can

express opinions with it but not in the

teacherly way of saying this is bad and

this is good there's a different style a

Christian

some media formats of potential

conceptual playgrounds be they Texan

televangelism

pop video pissed takes can I start to

bidding here at 300 year old police lock

or vehicles to satirize the art market

1200 very popular it is 1200 euro now at

2200 euro and whether his collaborators

are in on the joke or not without them

there'd be no artworks but you bring

lots of people together in your work

don't you it's not just about you doing

something on your own the audience

participate you get strangers and people

in the streets and weightlifters

everyone's participating it's a real

group enterprise isn't it yeah because

that's where I find the unexpected you

know for me if you call people the

medium or the material you work with it

sounds a little bit sick I'm not saying

your paint brush right now but you are

also a media everybody I drag into my

pieces from this world outside of the

art may it be sportsman made the

anchorman made you know they all bring a

new perspective out in the end of the

day is about reaching to a new

perspective

so Christian to deal with the elephant

in the room so to speak I can't help

noticing that you're naked and have been

naked throughout this interview can you

tell me why don't you see why it's quite

nice now I just thought what can I add

to a situation like this how can we have

a little bit of fun creating images that

are out in the mass media if I would

step to a program like this everything

and what are they doing there and it's

very conceptual or maybe it also I have

nothing to hide you know I'm just

telling you what I think about

conceptual art and might not make you

the most happy but maybe does who knows

well you've certainly made me feel

overdressed you make me feel

underdressed

[Music]

well that was one of the most surreal

experiences I've ever had

you know I've interviewed a lot of

artists over my time but I've never

interviewed a naked one but I really

actually enjoyed meeting Christian you

know and he was one of the artists I

thought I was going to struggle with the

most I really thought of him as a

prankster but he clearly is a very very

intelligent thoughtful man who uses

humor and uses the media to ask really

profound questions about the society

which we're living in I have to confess

I've grown to rather like conceptual art

because in the hundred years since

Marcel Duchamp zorrino conceptual

artists have achieved a lot there made

us laugh think and feel they've

redefined art and beauty they've taken

bold political stances and they've tried

to make the world a more unpredictable

and imaginative place but to really

understand how far conceptual art has

come today

we must delve deep into the final

frontier Katie Patterson is one of the

most exciting talents of my generation

and for a few years now she's been

boldly going where no conceptual artist

has gone before

she's melted down and recast a four and

a half billion year old meteorite before

sending it back into space she's mapped

all the dead stars we know of in the

universe 27,000 apparently and she's

even made music with celestial objects

[Music]

this is one of Katy Patterson's most

famous works you may recognize the music

as Beethoven's moonlight sonata but

let's have a closer listen

[Music]

now you might have noticed that this

rendition is actually missing a few

notes but you won't believe why because

what Katie Patterson has done is taken a

score of the moonlight sonata converted

it into Morse code and sent it by radio

transmission all the way to the surface

of the Moon and then bounced it back

into this room and into this piano

so wherever the missing notes gone well

they've actually been lost in the

valleys the craters the shadows of the

lunar surface so in many ways this is

the moonlight sonata remade by the moon

itself

in the same way that do shawls fountain

was just a urinal this is just an

everyday piano plunked inside a gallery

but it's been transformed by an

extraordinary idea my final stop on this

conceptual journey is to try and

discover where these cosmic brain waves

come from and to see what else Patterson

has been dreaming up

so what are we got here then Casey we

have got a number of different samples

and bits and pieces from the different

artworks I've been working on for the

last few years this is a candle that

smells of outer space and I don't think

in outer space have a smell it has a lot

of smells that turns out it's quite a

sentence please

it is a Sun what does the Sun spawn

welding fumes surprise lots of hot metal

yeah like that I fear the virus Mel's an

old penny some of the scents have come

from astronauts clothing that's been

analyzed the scent of the moon I worked

with a biochemist to develop these very

particular perfumes that's just amazing

you know just looking burnt almond

cookie is the smell of the moon how do

you come up with an idea like that I

mean the idea of said you know what does

the universe know what yeah let's turn

it into a candle that's just an amazing

idea where where is where those concepts

coming from oh my goodness where did the

concepts come from I still surprised

myself with the concepts come from I was

thinking as if you're taking a journey

through space and through time in how to

translate the this may love a journey

into a physical thing in that and that

became a candle what is it that inspires

you as an artist what is it what kind of

things get you get you going it's almost

everything nature and geology and

geography the planet and the wider

universe that's pretty white so what are

these then so this is

a series called history of darkness and

I've been taking images of nothing

effectively of dark spaces from

throughout the universe and so these are

slides right there slides and they're

all just black but they're from multiple

places in the universe and they span

billions of years so what is that saying

then this that is a distance from Earth

in lightyears which is four billion

billion two hundred and thirty nine

million one hundred eight thousand eight

hundred twenty like

exactly I kind of like to think that

these spaces of emptiness can never be

filled with life and other planets

I mean it's so remarkable that in this

little slide you've got all billion

light years that's an amazing

awe-inspiring idea in the same right

isn't it and one of the concerns a lot

of people have about conceptual art and

I have to confess that I've had these

concerns as well in the past is that

it's somehow easy that anyone can do it

but looking at your work I realize that

it's completely the opposite this is not

easy at all

there's pain so yeah it's not easy

because these ideas are kind of on the

brink of the possible and the impossible

there's so many things that go on behind

every single work but ultimately I hope

for the audience

and make it come alive by activating

that idea through their imagination and

[Music]

that dear viewer is where you come in

most conceptual art only comes to life

when you're prepared to put in the work

understanding often takes effort but you

can complete the circle of an artist's

big idea and here's one of Katie

Patterson's biggest

Wow it may only be a miracle but it's

like no Mirabal I've ever seen before

Katie Patterson has painstakingly

compiled and arranged 10,000 images of

solar eclipses almost everyone ever

documented by humankind and these

transient spectral moments brought

together in this otherworldly object

have been granted new life as they

scatter and dance all around me it feels

like I've stepped out of the solar

system out of time and space and I'm

staring back at the entire universe from

a great distance

[Music]

this is conceptual art alright but

what's there not to like it's

intelligent and beautiful and hugely

ambitious conceptual art is above all

about ideas now as we've seen those

ideas can come in many different shapes

and sizes but Katie Patterson deals with

the biggest ideas imaginable space time

the cosmos

now those ideas are relevant to each and

every one of us because they help define

our place in the universe so let's stop

being scared of conceptual art because

art without ideas is just decoration

isn't it

[Music]

more in our conceptual art season next

here on bbc4 as we enter the weird and

wonderful world of performance artist

Bob parks and tomorrow the bricks that

spark such outrage and wonder at the

Tate Gallery in 1976 don't miss that

[Music]