Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology

624 Pages·2001·2.66 MB·English

Conceptual Art:
A Critical Anthology
Alexander Alberro
Blake Stimson,
Editors
The MIT Press
conceptual art

conceptual art: a critical anthology
edited by alexander alberro and blake stimson
the MIT press • cambridge, massachusetts • london, england
(cid:2)1999MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedinanyformbyanyelectronicormechanicalmeans
(includingphotocopying,recording,orinformationstorageandretrieval)withoutpermissioninwritingfromthe
publisher.
ThisbookwassetinAdobeGaramondandTradeGothicbyGraphicComposition,Inc.andwasprintedandbound
intheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Conceptualart:acriticalanthology/editedbyAlexanderAlberroandBlakeStimson.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-262-01173-5(hc:alk.paper)
1.Conceptualart. I.Alberro,Alexander. II.Stimson,Blake.
N6494.C63C597 1999
700—dc21 98-52388
CIP

contents
ILLUSTRATIONS xii
PREFACE xiv
Alexander Alberro, Reconsidering Conceptual Art, 1966–1977 xvi
Blake Stimson, The Promise of Conceptual Art xxxviii
I 1966–1967
Eduardo Costa, Rau´l Escari, Roberto Jacoby, A Media Art (Manifesto) 2
Christine Kozlov, Compositions for Audio Structures 6
He´lio Oiticica, Position and Program 8
Sol LeWitt, Paragraphs on Conceptual Art 12
Sigmund Bode, Excerpt from Placement as Language (1928) 18
Mel Bochner, The Serial Attitude 22
Daniel Buren, Olivier Mosset, Michel Parmentier, Niele Toroni, Statement 28
Michel Claura, Buren, Mosset, Toroni or Anybody 30
Michael Baldwin, Remarks on Air-Conditioning: An Extravaganza of Blandness 32
Adrian Piper, A Defense of the “Conceptual” Process in Art 36
He´lio Oiticica, General Scheme of the New Objectivity 40
II 1968
Lucy R. Lippard and John Chandler, The Dematerialization of Art 46
Terry Atkinson, Concerning the Article “The Dematerialization of Art” 52
Yvonne Rainer, Statement 60
Hanne Darboven, Statement to Lucy Lippard 62
Georges Boudaille, Interview with Daniel Buren: Art Is No Longer Justifiable
or Setting the Record Straight 66
Marı´a Teresa Gramuglio and Nicola´s Rosa, Tucuma´n Burns 76
III 1969
Michel Claura, Paris Commentary 82
Gregory Battcock, Painting Is Obsolete 88
Dan Graham, Art Workers’ Coalition Open Hearing Presentation 92
Editors of Art-Language, Introduction 98
Sol LeWitt, Sentences on Conceptual Art 106
Ian Burn, Dialogue 110
Lee Lozano, Dialogue Piece 112
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Maintenance Art Manifesto, Proposal for an Exhibition, “CARE” 122
John Murphy, Patron’s Statement for “When Attitudes Become Form” 126
Piero Gilardi, Politics and the Avant-Garde 128
Jean Clay, Art Tamed and Wild 136
Rolf Wedewer, Introduction to Konzeption/Conception 142
Daniel Buren, Beware 144
Joseph Kosuth, Art After Philosophy 158
Lucy R. Lippard, Introduction to 557,087 178
IV 1970
Ian Burn, Conceptual Art as Art 188
Mel Bochner, Excerpts from Speculation (1967–1970) 192
Charles Harrison and Seth Siegelaub, On Exhibitions and the World at Large 198
Charles Harrison, Notes Towards Art Work 204
Athena Tacha Spear, Introduction to Art in the Mind 210
Kynaston McShine, Introduction to Information 212
Jack Burnham, Alice’s Head: Reflections on Conceptual Art 216
Harold Rosenberg, De-aestheticization 220
Luis Camnitzer, Contemporary Colonial Art 224
Cildo Meireles, Insertions in Ideological Circuits 232
V 1971–1974
Michel Claura, Interview with Lawrence Weiner 236
Jeanne Siegel, An Interview with Hans Haacke 242
Victor Burgin, Rules of Thumb 248
Terry Smith, Propositions 258
Catherine Millet, Interview with Art-Language 262
Max Kozloff, The Trouble with Art-as-Idea 268
Robert Smithson, Cultural Confinement 280
Robert Smithson, Production for Production’s Sake 284
Michel Claura and Seth Siegelaub, L’art conceptuel 286
Lucy R. Lippard, Postface, in Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object,
1966 to 1972 294
Adrian Piper, In Support of Meta-Art 298
Hans Haacke, All the “Art” That’s Fit to Show 302
VI 1975–1977
Sarah Charlesworth, A Declaration of Dependence 308
Ian Burn, The Art Market: Affluence and Degradation 320
Joseph Kosuth, 1975 334
Art & Language, UK, Having-Your-Heart-in-the-Right-Place-Is-Not-Making-History 350
Art & Language, UK, The Timeless Lumpenness of Radical Cultural Life 354
Marcel Broodthaers, To Be bien pensant ... or Not to Be. To Be Blind 358
Allan Sekula, Documentary and Corporate Violence 360
Martha Rosler, To Argue for a Video of Representation. To Argue for
a Video Against the Mythology of Everyday Life 366
Mary Kelly, Notes on Reading the Post-Partum Document 370
Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, Moments of History in the Work of Dan Graham 376
VII Memoirs of Conceptual Art
Ian Burn, The ’Sixties: Crisis and Aftermath (or the Memoirs of an Ex-Conceptual Artist) 392
Cildo Meireles, Statements 410
Ian Wilson, Conceptual Art 414
Dan Graham, My Works for Magazine Pages: “A History of Conceptual Art” 418