Frazer Ward’s article discusses the relationship between
Conceptual Art and Performance Art. The definition
of conceptual art has been the focus of ongoing discussions and is still up for
debate however for the purposes of this argument Ward decides to use the definition
that Conceptual Art is a work where the aesthetics become secondary to the
concept or thought behind the work.
Later on in the piece Ward also discusses how Conceptual Art is
sometimes hard for the public to accept due to the reservations about giving up
the priority of aesthetic pleasure. Performance Art is a term more easily
defined. It is considered to be a form
of art that happens in a moment in time.
It has a beginning, middle and end and is often performed in a specific
location where the artist carries out an action or activity often in front of
an audience.
In this piece of writing Ward compares the works of Ian Burn
and his Mirror Piece (1967) and Vito Acconci’s work Step Piece (1970). Burns piece being considered typically
conceptual where as Acconci’s work is seen as more a conceptual piece of
performance art. However during the 1960s and 1970s both these forms of art
were overlapping, sometimes working in conjunction with each other and sometimes
working against each other. Both Burn
and Acconci were questioning what art was and the place of art, in the gallery
or institution and in society similar to Duchamp and his Readymades.
Burn’s piece is deemed conceptual in terms of its rejection
of aesthetic qualities. Consisting of 13 typed pages of notes and diagrams
framed and covered in glass and also a rectangular mirror, Burn’s work explains
itself in the notes and in turn allows the viewer to understand the intentions
of burns work and the mirrors function within it. In Acconci’s piece he steps
up and down on an 18 inch stool every morning at a particular rate until he is
out of breath and the informs the public of his progress through announcements
and allowing the public into his home on key performance dates. By doing this he takes the artwork out of the
gallery which challenges the thought patterns of the time in regards to moving
out of the gallery space and away from the commercialisation of art.
It is also important to note also that Conceptual Art is a
movement, a period in time, similar to minimalism or any other type of ‘ism’,
however Performance Art is not a movement.
Performance Art has emerged and subsided throughout the last century in
a number of movements and ‘isms’, some being more apparent than others.
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