Art History ( Lesson 73/1): Conceptuel art/Joseph Beuys:

Описание: Art History ( Lesson 73/1): Conceptuel art/Joseph Beuys:

In Conceptual art, the idea or concept behind the work is as important as the work itself. Marcel Duchamp made the first examples of Conceptual art before World War I, but it only became recognised as a distinct art form in the 1960s.
Origins
The term "concept art" was first used in 1961 by the American anti-art activist Henry Flynt to describe his performance art. The term was extended to "Conceptual art" by the American artist Sol LeWitt in his 1967 article "Paragraphs on Conceptual Art" for Artforum magazine. This article recognized that a generation of artists was creating a new form of art and popularized the term.
Media:
Conceptual art revolutionized the way we appreciate art. To Conceptual artists, a work of art was primarily for intellectual - not aesthetic - stimulation and was no longer a beautiful, hand-crafted object. It did not have to take the traditional form of painting or sculpture, but might be a photograph, a film, or an instailation.
It could be made from found objects, or produced by the artist's assistant.
Some Conceptual artists, such as Joseph Beuys, created performance art to make statements about the pain of human existence or man's relationship with nature. Others turned to Land art, making artworks directly in the landscape (see p.551).
Conceptual art was a reaction against Abstract Expressionism, which dominated the art world in the 1950s Whereas Abstract Expressionists sought to express their emotions and experiences in large, heroic paintings, the Conceptualists were often cool and cerebral. Piero Manzoni, one of the first Conceptual artists, began his series of Achromes in 1957. In these works he soaked the canvases in kaolin, a white clay, to produce a
"white surface that is simply a white surface and nothing else".

Joseph Beuys:
Charismatic and unconventional, Joseph Beuys was a leading political artist and teacher. He strongly believed that his art, which he called
"social sculpture", had the power to shape a better society and, as part of his artistic career, he became increasingly active in politics, campaigning for educational reform, grass-roots democracy, and the Green Party
In his scu'ptures and instatlations, Beuys deliberately used non-art materials, including fat, felt, earth, stones, food, and copper and iron sheets. As his reputation grew, he was invited to create ever-more ambitious projects. He made room-sized installations, and eventually his work spilled out of the museum into activist events, such as his tree-pianting, 7,000 Oaks (1982-87).
Importantiy. Beuys also pioneered the idea that the artist could communicate through "actions" - performances, public discussions and political campaigning - as well as artefacts. In his most famous
"action", performed in New York in 1974, he spent three days in a room with a covote. The title of the work, I Like America and America Likes Me, is ironic - Beuys opposed the war in Vietnam and his work challenged the hegemony of American art.