I read Ursula Meyers' bk "Conceptual Art" in 1976 & this one not until over 22 yrs later. By then, of course, I'd changed alot. Even though there's an overlap between the 2 bks (after all, both writers are mostly art world figures aware of NYC artists 1st & foremost), their mode of presentation is different. Meyers' bk has short statements & pictures. Lippard's is much more of a cut & paste reference. I recommend them both. However, the difference in when I read them makes me favor the Meyers bk more. At the same time that Conceptual Art will always be very important to me, some of these particular manifestations of it have lost their charm for me. I've seen Sol LeWitt, eg, turn into a museum superstar &, even though he's credited w/ coining the term "Conceptual Art" (as opposed to "Concept Art" coined by Henry Flynt), I find his work to be highly over-rated geometricism (amongst other things) & not really very 'conceptual' at all. ( )

Essential source book of documentation of the Conceptual Art, Land Art, Earth Art, Arte Povera, Minimal Art, Performance Art, Video Art movements. Documents the activities, day by day, month by month, year by year of artists. "The unusual form of this provocative book intentionally reflects the chaotic network of ideas connected with so-called conceptual art or information art or idea art, in America and abroad, from 1966 to 1972. Arranged as a continuous bibliographical chronology, into which is woven a rich collection of original documents - including texts by, and taped discussions with and among, the artists involved - and annotations by Lucy R. Lippard, the book has the informal quality of a lively contemporary forum. Only a minimum of order is imposed; for the most part the reader is left to confront the curious compendium of information on his or her own, to follow changing ideas and artistic developments over the six-year period, to witness the gradual (and controversial) "dematerialization" of the art object."

Lucy R. Lippard explores a number of modern art movements flowering in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including minimal art, earth art and conceptual art. It is this last form of art I find most fascinating, especially as put forth by artist Sol LeWitt in his classic piece “Sentences on Conceptual Art” – 35 brief statements outlining the philosophy behind what it means to create as a conceptual artist. As a way of sharing a portion of LeWitt’s work, below are 10 of his 35 sentences along with my brief comments:

“The artist's will is secondary to the process he initiates from idea to completion. His willfulness may only be ego.” --------- One key area of Sol LeWittt’s artistic vision highlights the interplay between ideas, geometry and perception, the way the mind, the eye and physical space interact. In LeWitt’s own words: “When you draw various parts of a cube on paper there is order but when the drawing is converted into three dimensions those partial cubes become chaos. However, when you walk around the completed work and look at it from different lines of sight, those cubes becomes orderly again as you begin to untangle the puzzle and engage your intellectual processes of problem solving.” LeWitt’s art originates from very simple ideas wherein he develops those ideas into complex and playful forms. He then welcomes the viewer to partake in a visual dialogue with his creations.



“The concept and idea are different. The former implies a general direction while the latter is the component. Ideas implement the concept.” --------- So, ideas are the pieces or building blocks of an overarching concept. Take for example the construction below - the multi-cube would be the concept and the many various pieces would correspond to separate, individual ideas.



“For each work of art that becomes physical there are many variations that do not.” ---------- For each created art work there would be all those modifications and possibilities that were in the mind of the artist at some point during the creation, some considered seriously, others not so seriously, then put aside. Theoretically, all those potential modifications could have taken on physical form but they did not, in fact, receive form.



“The conventions of art are altered by works of art.” ---------- Turns out, Sol LeWitt has had much influence in the art world. He has transformed the idea and practice of drawing as well as redefining the connection between an idea and the art that idea produces. With LeWitt there is a shift in focus from the presence of the artist physically and directly creating the work to the artist’s ideas behind the work and how the ideas surpass each work itself. In this sense, LeWitt is very much like an architect designing and setting out plans for a structure without participating in the actual material, physical side of setting the foundation or erecting that structure.



“Ideas can be works of art; they are in a chain of development that may eventually find some form. All ideas need not be made physical.” ---------- I myself designed what I judge to be a cross between Piet Mondrian and a Zen garden. First, I took a sheet of 6’ x 4’ white Formica and placed this Formica sheet within a white frame and then placed it on a table. Next, I painted wooden half-circle nobs, each nob 2’' in diameter, in bold colors – black, white, yellow, blue, red. Rather than rocks set out on the sand of a Zen gardens, the viewer/participant takes the colored nobs and sets each one, as few as 2 or 3 or as many as 20 or 30, out on the white Formica. Applying LeWitt’s statement here that ideas can be works of art that need not be made physical, outlining my concept of this work of art is enough – you can see in your mind’s eye what I have created and you can, in turn, orchestrate the combinations of colored pieces on white Formica. Actually, you could take the next step - with my simple specifications, you could construct a Mondrian-Zen Garden of your own.

“Banal ideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution.” ---------- If my concept of a Mondrian - Zen Garden strikes you as flat or banal or superficial, please feel free to apply this Sol LeWitt sentence to my conceptual art!

“The artist may not necessarily understand his own art. His perception is neither better nor worse than that of others.” --------- South African author J. M. Coetzee was once asked to answer the philosophical questions undergirding one of his novels. Coetzee replied that he is only the author; he doesn’t pretend to have answers to the philosophical challenges he poses; rather, as an author of fiction, his job is simply to present those challenges vividly to the reader.

“It is difficult to bungle a good idea.” ----------- LeWitt must be thinking specifically of Conceptual Art with its emphasis on the concept as opposed to the various stages of execution since, when it comes to other forms of art, it is not only not difficult to bungle a good idea, it is as easy as pie. Such bungling is done all the time by artists.

“When an artist learns his craft too well he makes slick art.” ---------- For LeWitt, the artist is really a thinker. LeWitt’s Conceptual Art is radical not because of the materials it uses but the ideas behind those materials. The idea is the machine that makes the work of art; execution is a perfunctory affair. Again, as noted above, the artist’s hand need not be present. LeWitt’s wall drawings act like a musical score where the artist is the composer - similar to a musical composition that can be played simultaneously by any number of musicians all over the globe, LeWitt’s wall art may be painted simultaneously by many artists in multiple spaces.

“These sentences comment on art, but are not art.” ---------- Ha! What is the sound of one conceptual artist writing? ( )

Lucy R. Lippard explores a number of modern art movements flowering in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including minimal art, earth art and conceptual art. It is this last form of art I find most fascinating, especially as put forth by artist Sol LeWitt in his classic piece “Sentences on Conceptual Art” – 35 brief statements outlining the philosophy behind what it means to create as a conceptual artist. As a way of sharing a portion of LeWitt’s work, below are 10 of his 35 sentences along with my brief comments:

“The artist's will is secondary to the process he initiates from idea to completion. His willfulness may only be ego.” --------- One key area of Sol LeWittt’s artistic vision highlights the interplay between ideas, geometry and perception, the way the mind, the eye and physical space interact. In LeWitt’s own words: “When you draw various parts of a cube on paper there is order but when the drawing is converted into three dimensions those partial cubes become chaos. However, when you walk around the completed work and look at it from different lines of sight, those cubes becomes orderly again as you begin to untangle the puzzle and engage your intellectual processes of problem solving.” LeWitt’s art originates from very simple ideas wherein he develops those ideas into complex and playful forms. He then welcomes the viewer to partake in a visual dialogue with his creations.


“The concept and idea are different. The former implies a general direction while the latter is the component. Ideas implement the concept.” --------- So, ideas are the pieces or building blocks of an overarching concept. Take for example the construction below - the multi-cube would be the concept and the many various pieces would correspond to separate, individual ideas.


“For each work of art that becomes physical there are many variations that do not.” ---------- For each created art work there would be all those modifications and possibilities that were in the mind of the artist at some point during the creation, some considered seriously, others not so seriously, then put aside. Theoretically, all those potential modifications could have taken on physical form but they did not, in fact, receive form.


“The conventions of art are altered by works of art.” ---------- Turns out, Sol LeWitt has had much influence in the art world. He has transformed the idea and practice of drawing as well as redefining the connection between an idea and the art that idea produces. With LeWitt there is a shift in focus from the presence of the artist physically and directly creating the work to the artist’s ideas behind the work and how the ideas surpass each work itself. In this sense, LeWitt is very much like an architect designing and setting out plans for a structure without participating in the actual material, physical side of setting the foundation or erecting that structure.


“Ideas can be works of art; they are in a chain of development that may eventually find some form. All ideas need not be made physical.” ---------- I myself designed what I judge to be a cross between Piet Mondrian and a Zen garden. First, I took a sheet of 6’ x 4’ white Formica and placed this Formica sheet within a white frame and then placed it on a table. Next, I painted wooden half-circle nobs, each nob 2’' in diameter, in bold colors – black, white, yellow, blue, red. Rather than rocks set out on the sand of a Zen gardens, the viewer/participant takes the colored nobs and sets each one, as few as 2 or 3 or as many as 20 or 30, out on the white Formica. Applying LeWitt’s statement here that ideas can be works of art that need not be made physical, outlining my concept of this work of art is enough – you can see in your mind’s eye what I have created and you can, in turn, orchestrate the combinations of colored pieces on white Formica. Actually, you could take the next step - with my simple specifications, you could construct a Mondrian-Zen Garden of your own.

“Banal ideas cannot be rescued by beautiful execution.” ---------- If my concept of a Mondrian - Zen Garden strikes you as flat or banal or superficial, please feel free to apply this Sol LeWitt sentence to my conceptual art!

“The artist may not necessarily understand his own art. His perception is neither better nor worse than that of others.” --------- South African author J. M. Coetzee was once asked to answer the philosophical questions undergirding one of his novels. Coetzee replied that he is only the author; he doesn’t pretend to have answers to the philosophical challenges he poses; rather, as an author of fiction, his job is simply to present those challenges vividly to the reader.

“It is difficult to bungle a good idea.” ----------- LeWitt must be thinking specifically of Conceptual Art with its emphasis on the concept as opposed to the various stages of execution since, when it comes to other forms of art, it is not only not difficult to bungle a good idea, it is as easy as pie. Such bungling is done all the time by artists.

“When an artist learns his craft too well he makes slick art.” ---------- For LeWitt, the artist is really a thinker. LeWitt’s Conceptual Art is radical not because of the materials it uses but the ideas behind those materials. The idea is the machine that makes the work of art; execution is a perfunctory affair. Again, as noted above, the artist’s hand need not be present. LeWitt’s wall drawings act like a musical score where the artist is the composer - similar to a musical composition that can be played simultaneously by any number of musicians all over the globe, LeWitt’s wall art may be painted simultaneously by many artists in multiple spaces.

“These sentences comment on art, but are not art.” ---------- Ha! What is the sound of one conceptual artist writing? ( )

Realization of space in the 20th century