Comments on: What does conceptual art represent?

By: tala

tala — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:01:33 +0000

art is the greatest thing in life art is not appreance its illusion now if we dont have art how would any subjects work example math how r we going to draw shapes in math geog how r we souposed to draw maps its really obvious its special

By: David

David — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:37:06 +0000

I didn’t know Boggs was missing…

June, I had tried calling and e-mailing him awhile back, and everything had been disconnected, including his web site. I just did some digging around tonight on the web, and he seems to be in jail in Tallahassee on drug charges.

I don’t know him that well, but we hung out together in L.A. a few times and I really enjoyed his company. I hope things work out for him.

By: June

June — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:46:14 +0000

Weschler on Boggs was the first thing I remember reading by him — bits in the New Yorker and then the book itself.

I didn’t know Boggs was missing, but you are right — that might have been my intro to Conceptual art, also.

By: David

David — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:16:20 +0000

I find that I can read almost anything by Weschler…

He also has a book out about my (missing) friend J.S.G. Boggs, who draws money and then tries to spend it. I have the book on my shelf, but it’s still in the “unread” section. Actually, Boggs’ work is an interesting combination of concept and execution.

By: Sunil Gangadharan

Sunil Gangadharan — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 18:01:49 +0000

My take in combination with the ideas nicely presented by Karl above:
Conceptual art depends upon:
-Strength of the concept presented (Sati would strong concept if presented properly)
-Acumen of representation (better done works are stronger)
-Additional overlays of meaning (in terms of frame of references)

These three in concert raises the emotional power of an artwork…

By: June

June — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 17:52:08 +0000

Thanks, David, for another Weschler reference. I’m on it. I find that I can read almost anything by Weschler; like John McPhee he makes me feel smarter than I really am.

By: Sunil Gangadharan

Sunil Gangadharan — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:37:07 +0000

Isn’t all representation on canvas just an illusion.
When you say “So, if the work seems like BS, I’d say it is because the representation of concepts is lousy”, I would like to add that in some cases having a poor understanding of the ‘frame of reference’ under which a artwork was created could also lead to them labeling the artwork as BS.