Conceptual Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Conceptual Art - Essay Example Conceptual art is perhaps one of the artistic movements surrounded by many debates and controversies since it seems to provoke powerful emotions and reactions in audiences. That is, although a good number of audiences agree that conceptual art is not only refreshing but also relevant to modern times, others find it rather repugnant and shocking kind of art. In fact, others feel that conceptual art is not art at all. Thus, conceptual art could be described as something loved and hated in equal measure. That conceptual art is controversial and divisive is not accidental as it seeks to challenge and probe audiences to take a keen and analytical look at art in general and prompts them to question hitherto unchallenged assumptions about what qualifies as art and the roles of art and artists. Therefore, there are a number of hurdles that philosophers of conceptual art have to encounter and contend with in their work. First, conceptual art philosopher need to isolate the art/object under ex amination or categorization. This activity becomes quite challenging given that the definition and boundary of conceptual and other types of art is not quite clear. Generally, conceptual art refers to the artistic movement that appeared in the period between 1966 and 1972, practiced and spread by artists such as Joseph Kosuth, Robert Morris, Joseph Beuys and Mel Ramsden. A critical feature of this period’s art is its absorption and application of the lessons learnt from earlier 20th century art movements such as the Fluxus group., Abstract Expressionism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and Suprematism. The other unique feature of conceptual art is that it attempts to overcome the notion that art is only about aesthetic value, emphasizing that art only valued for its beauty but not to make people think is redundant (Corris 78). Unlike conceptual art, instead of promoting reflection and conception, earlier artistic movements only used art to promote consumerism on the basis of the beauty of art and the skills of the artists. Conceptual artists thus denounce these specific and restricted views of art, Instead, they promote a revisionary understanding of works of art, artists, and artistic experiences. From a philosophical viewpoint, it would be rather narrow to restrict the definition of conceptual art to the 1960s and the 1970s. Thus, any inquiry into conceptual art should not only cover artworks created in this mentioned period since the spirit and intentions with which conceptual art was produced in the 1960s and 1970s continues even in current times