On conceptual art

Let’s talk about conceptual art. A lot of people simply claim they don’t get it. Just as many look at contemporary art and say “I could do that”. Well, my answer for that - as quoted on a tea towel recently gifted to me by my wonderful girlfriend - is “yeah, but you didn’t”.

THE MOST RECENT AND FAMOUS EXAMPLE IS ONE YOU ALREADY HAVE SURELY HEARD ABOUT. LATE LAST YEAR, AT ART BASEL IN MIAMI, THE ARTIST MAURIZIO CATTELAN DEBUTED A WORK THAT CONSISTED OF A SIMPLE BANANA DUCT TAPED TO THE WALL, TITLED “COMEDIAN”. THIS IS THE EPITOME OF “I COULDA DONE THAT - WELL YOU DIDN’T”. THE WORK FIRST SOLD FOR $120,000 BEFORE THE PRICE FOR SUBSEQUENT “WORKS” WAS INCREASED TO UP TO $150,000. 

I PUT WORKS IN QUOTATION MARKS HERE BECAUSE WHAT THE BUYERS ACTUALLY PURCHASED WAS A CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY SAYING THAT THEY OWN CATTELAN’S IDEA OF DUCT TAPING A BANANA TO A WALL JUST SO. AFTER THE BANANA SPOILS, THEY CAN SIMPLY REPLACE IT ACCORDING TO THE ARTIST’S INSTRUCTIONS AND IT IS STILL AN AUTHENTIC CATTELAN. THE THING HERE IS, THEY PURCHASED THE ~IDEA~ FROM CATTELAN, AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION WHEN TALKING ABOUT CONCEPTUAL ART.

CONCEPTUAL ART IS NOT ABOUT THE PHYSICAL OBJECT SO MUCH IT IS ABOUT THE IDEA THAT OBJECT REPRESENTS. FOR MOST OF THE HISTORY OF ART, WHAT GAVE ART THE MOST VALUE WAS THE PHYSICAL TIME SPENT ON A WORK AND THE BRILLIANCE OF THE ARTIST’S HAND THAT JUST NO ONE  ELSE COULD REPLICATE - OR AT LEAST HADN’T YET AT THE TIME. WITH THE CHANGING OF THE ART MARKET IN THE MODERN INTO THE POST-MODERN PERIOD, VALUE WAS GIVEN TO ART IN A MUCH DIFFERENT WAY. GALLERIES BEGAN TO CONTROL AND LIMIT THE PRODUCTION OF ART AND IN TURN DETERMINED THEIR PRICES. CONCEPTUAL ARTISTS RESPONDED TO THIS BY PRESENTING SOMETHING NOT NECESSARILY HARD TO DO, BUT BY PRESENTING A NOVEL IDEA, WHICH GALLERIES THEN LIMIT PRODUCTION OF TO GIVE IT VALUE. ESSENTIALLY, CONCEPTUAL ART CAN LITERALLY BE ANYTHING SO LONG AS THE “ARTIST” CALLS IT ART. ​

THIS IS WHY CATTELAN’S PREVIOUS WORK OF A GOLDEN TOILET WAS ALSO CONSIDERED ART, AS HE REPLACED A TOILET IN THE GUGGENHEIM WITH HIS OWN GOLD ONE, A WORK APTLY TITLED “AMERICA”. (FUN FACT THIS WAS SOMEHOW STOLEN FROM AN EXHIBITION IN LONDON). CATTELAN, BY PLACING AN OTHERWISE ORDINARY OBJECT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ART, AUTOMATICALLY TURNS THE OBJECT INTO A PIECE OF ART.

THERE IS A LONG HISTORY OF THIS, ONE OF THE FIRST PURVEYORS OF THIS METHOD BEING MARCEL DUCHAMP. OVER A CENTURY AGO, IN 1917, DUCHAMP PRESENTED THE WORK “FOUNTAIN”, WHICH CONSISTED OF A URINAL, TURNED ON ITS SIDE, INSCRIBED “R. MUTT”. HE PROFESSED HIS INTENT THAT PEOPLE LOOK AT THE URINAL AS IF IT WERE A WORK OF ART BECAUSE HE SAID IT WAS A WORK OF ART. THIS IS A DIRECT PRECEdeNT FOR CATTELAN’S THINKING IN putting a golden toilet in the guggenheim. 

IN DUCHAMP’S CASE, HOWEVER, THE SOCIETY OF INDEPENDENT ARTISTS DECIDED THE WORK WAS NOT WORTHY OF DISPLAY, EVEN THOUGH THE GOAL OF THE SOCIETY WAS TO HOLD ANNUAL EXHIBITIONS OF WORK BY AVANT-GARDE ARTISTS WITH NO JURY OR PRIZES.

​NOW IF you THINK I WILL MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WHOLE PIECE WITHOUT CONNECTING IT TO JAWNZ, YOU HAVE GREATLY UNDERESTIMATED ME. NOT ONLY IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE CONCEPTUAL ARTISTS ALSO ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST WELL-KNOWN FASHION DESIGNERS OF THE MOMENT, I ALSO WANT TO MENTION A MORE RECENT WORK, SINCE I STARTED WRITING THIS MONTHS AGO AND THE BANANA IS SLIGHTLY LESS RELEVANT. 

WHILE SURELY LESS WIDELY KNOWN THAN “COMEDIAN”, I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THE FINALE LOOK FROM OFF-WHITE’S MOST RECENT RUNWAY SHOW. THE IS A COMBINATION OF A COUTURE GOWN AND AN ALMOST UNNATURALLY PLACED HOOD AND SLEEVE OF AN ARCTERYX SHELL JACKET. THE DESIGN ISN’T PERFECT, AND COPYCAT WHISTLEBLOWER DIET PRADA POINTED OUT THE DRESS PART LOOKS TO HAVE BEEN SUSPICIOUSLY INSPIRED BY A DOLCE AND GABBANA DRESS FROM LAST SEASON, BUT THE ARTISTIC STATEMENT IS POWERFUL. I’M ACTUALLY CONVINCED DIET PRADA NAILED VIRGIL’S DESIGN PROCESS BY ROUGHLY PHOTOSHOPPING A JACKET ONTO THE D&G GOWN IN QUESTION. THAT’S HOW VIRGIL DESIGNS, BY IDEA AND NOT BY TECHNICAL MASTERWORK.