History of Conceptual Art

Conceptual art began emerging around the early 20th century. "It brought into focus, and into the artistic mainstream, subversive ideas that had been hovering on modernism's edges for much of the 20th century, in Dada, Fluxus, Happenings, Concrete Poetry and Situationism," Smith, 1999. The popularity of conceptual art was brought about through its ability to be a universal type of art. Smith states it was virtually formless with no identity, and could be manifested with any or no materials at all. This type of art often required little to no formal training. It's end result was to gain attention through the message being portrayed as opposed to the traditional artwork. Once the overall message of the artist's message was conveyed, the work became 'playful and amusing'.

Conceptualism encouraged a new self-consciousness and critical attitude on the one hand yet a new sense of anything goes on another according to Schwan (2000). However, conceptual art created skepticism among fellow artists as well as spectators. Marcel Duchamp's Fountain is one of the most well known pieces during this time. Conceptualism brought up several questions of what constitutes a piece of artwork. Schawn (2000) brings to our attention the question of "When is a urinal just a urinal?" Where is the line drawn between what is considered to be art? I feel as though this question is left up to what the artist wants the viewer to achieve from the piece. This question should be left up to the viewer and the artist. As with my own work, as long as a viewer can take something away from the piece, it surpasses my goal as an artist.