Joseph Kosuth on Conceptual Art free essay sample

This report analyzes the heuristic influence of Joseph Kosuth on Conceptual art , which is a remarkable topic in contemporary art history with a historic study , comparing many important characteristics and art work to explain their similarities. This report is divided into four parts: Kosuth’s life and his work , the background and significance of conceptual art inside the text ,Kosuth’s exploratory impact on conceptual movement , and the conclusion. Joseph Kosuth was born in 1945,from Ohio, very considerable artist in that period , he led contemporary art history to shift from visual form to art with the conceptual significance of philosophic thinking, trying to break the barriers of traditional art forms ,especially the formalism (Whistler, 2012). Conceptual Art appeared as one of the art movement in1960s.At that time period ,there are a lot of different art movement influences others ,for example : Dadaism , Surrealism , Pop art , Land Art ,Installation Art. (Wood, 2002) In order to avoid to be the mainstream of formalist. We will write a custom essay sample on Joseph Kosuth on Conceptual Art or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Kosuth reject the use of painting and sculpture as a form of expression ,through questioning the nature of art , considered ideas or intention to be more essential than art object. He used the word â€Å"Mornphology†(Kosuth, 1969). Aesthetic, this mainly refers to the sense of beauty ,we should not use decorations as the function to measure the visual beauty of art or use that connected to â€Å"taste,† (Greenberg, 1983) which brought him to Clement Greenberg, described as â€Å"the critic of taste.†Kosuth wrote â€Å"Aesthetics is about subjective opinions on perception†¦we can deal aesthetically with anything that is in the world that our senses can respond to.†(Kosuth, 1969) Art and aesthetics must be separated. But When the sensory part is removed , what makes a work to be considered as art ? He mentioned Ad Reinhardt’s â€Å"Art as Art† (Cioffoletti, 2010) inside the text to oppose formalism and purified the form of aesthetic. To make his concept not misleading, Kosuth has find a way to show his work. Art and Language become a common strategy in his works. â€Å"Glass ,Word Material , Described†(Contemporary art daily, 2008) completed in 1965 by four large square o f glass on the wall, each piece of glass have a word printed on it. With Glass , Words ,Material , Described . From different sense to represents the objects itself. The purpose is to discard the conventional aesthetic rule. The use of glass because the glass has no colour ,the glass against the wall shows neither a painting hanging on the wall nor as a sculpture on  the ground. Also â€Å"One and Three Chairs†(MoMA, [n.d.]), this piece contains a â€Å"real† chair, a photo of the chair and the definition of the chair. By looking at this piece, it emerged the idea for the concept of the chair, it leads the viewer to think further about what is meant by the concept . This piece has become a significant icon for Kosuth because it stimulate the audience to intellectual thinking directly. Just like the Fountain (1917) form marcel Duchamp (Stafford, 2008) is the most famous readymade artwork influenced Kosuth. Regardless of the chair is replaced with boxes or other things, or even in different places to display. The work remains the same, because the work that convey through an object the concept rather than object itself. â€Å"Art as idea† is the core of Kosuth thinking and work, this is the most important element of the need for development of conceptual art. Kosuth thinks artists must go to question the nature of art, and give it a new â€Å"proposition†(MoMA, [n.d.]).He wrote â€Å"Works of art are analytic propositions. That is, if viewed within their context-as art- they provide no information what-so-ever about any matter of fact. A work of art is a tautology in that it is a presentation of the artist’s intention, that is, he is saying that a particular work of art is art, which means, is a definition of art. Thus that it is art is true a priori.†(Kosuth, 2009) Which means the works of art is an analytical proposition, that is placed in the context ,they do not provide any information about the fact. He says in a piece of art is art, it gives definition through their presence. To conclude , perhaps to use one point to view and judge the art is not comprehensive, after all I still rely on the language for logical thinking. Kosuth quoted Wittgenstein’s famous phrase â€Å"Meaning is in the use†(Kosuth, 2009) Anything created by art can make the art culture added new elements. Kosuth said â€Å"Art lives through influencing other art, not by existing as the physical residue of an artist’s ideas.†(Wood, 2002) Nowadays, a variety of art forms continue to increase to fill up our culture content, No matter Kosuth or other artists in his time period ‘s work are successful or not, his whole creation is indeed a profound impact on artist and confirmed his argument and position in the history of art. (Wood, 2002)