The history of Post-Object art can be dated from about 1966. The term Post-Object describes two classes of art activity: Post-Minimal and Conceptual. Post-Minimal art (ie. Earthworks, Bodyworks, Process, and Systems art) derives from the phenomenological interests of some of the major Minimalist figures (ie. Morris, Andre, leWitt, and Smithson). Conceptual art, stringently defined, entails the use of word language to state artistic intentions. By 1969, many of the more progressive Conceptualists in America and England became associated with the "Art & Language group" (hereafter cited as A & L). This group published Art-Language--The Journal of Conceptual Art. An analysis of A & L has had to deal with various historiographical problems. These include: the lack of historical perspective; the failure of contemporary art writers to produce a sensible critical-historical framework; the unintelligibility of A & L writings. This study refers to the art-works and articles produced by the members of Art-Language's editorial board (ie. Atkinson, Bainbridge, Baldwin, Hurrell, Kosuth, Burn and Ramsden, and Harrison. The discourse that was carried on by these eight individuals is analyzed with reference to a four phase developmental model: "early" (c.1966-8); "insular" (c.1969-70); "transitional" (c.l970-1); and "pluralistic" (c.1972-3). A & L contended that the condition of Post-Object art enabled art theory and art criticism, as well as art-object production, to be viewed as art-making. In order to understand this notion, one must be first acquainted with the relationship between Post-Object art and Modernist art. In the course of its historical development, Modernist art shifted the creative (ie. active, central) sector of art-making from the role of object maker to the role of critic. The Modernist conception of art is a highly self-referential one. Post-Object art, in particular A & L, developed this insular conception of art to its ultimate conclusion. In this sense, A & L's "early" work with theoretical art-objects and theoretical frameworks is discussed in the context of both traditional art-making, and Post-Object art-making. Then, A & L's position vis-a-vis Post- Object art is clarified with reference to the criticisms that the group levelled at this wider community. These criticisms are interpreted historically as polemical writings which served to establish A & L's priority within the Post-Object domain, and prepare the ground for the subsequent production of a general Post-Object theory of art. The group was familiar with the methodology of Analytical philosophy and sought to employ this knowledge to construct a rational "art-language". This notion was developed in the "insular" phase according to a positivistic viewpoint that was originally suggested by Kosuth. In the course of this programme though, difficulties were incurred and the group was forced to gradually relativize Its viewpoint. During 1970 and 1971 (ie."transitional" phase), A & L's inquiry shifted from Its self-referential position towards an analysis of the dominant force. in contemporary art--Modernism. The group felt that Modernism could be effectively described with reference to Richard Wollheim's 'Physicalist" theory. They further suggested that Modernism could be interpreted as a reductive extensional logic based on Wollheim's Physicalist principle. Wollheim suggests that a Physicalist theory coordinates the entire development of Modern art history. In response to this contention, A & L used. T.S. Kuhn's theory of Paradigms(developed for the History and Philosophy of Science) to characterize Modernism as the established sector of a wider "Material-Character/ Physical-Object Paradigm of art. In 1972 and 1973 (ie. "pluralistic" phase), A & L became conscious of contemporary developments in Linguistic philosophy, and accordingly accepted "contextual analysis", or "pluralism", as "their viewpoint". This analytical stance enabled them to investigate the Material-Character/Physical-Object Paradigm in the context of contemporary culture. This investigation revealed the ideological background of this paradigm, and outlined some of the reasons why this phenomenon had become entrenched in the contemporary art community. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation offers a reconsideration of the uses of photography under the aegis of Conceptual Art between 1966 and 1973 by analyzing the ways photography challenged epistemological limits, and, despite the claims regarding the medium’s inherent indexicality, emphasized experience over exactitude, and doubt in place of certainty. By focusing on four American practitioners, I argue for the “benefit of the doubt;” in other words, for the value of disbelief and hesitation, marking the reorientation of art at this time towards critical methods which oppose all orthodoxies, including but not limited to formalist dogmas, and instead are committed to the denial of autonomy in favor of understanding meaning as infinitely contingent. The dissertation is divided among four key case studies, including Mel Bochner (n. 1940), Bruce Nauman (n. 1941), Douglas Huebler (1924-1997), and John Baldessari (n. 1931). Each chapter argues for the unique contribution of photography in relation to conceptual art practices, while also situating the projects of these individual practitioners within the broader history of the medium of photography. I explore specifically the concepts of seriality, transparency and theory in Bochner; performance, “worklessness,” and failure in Nauman; portraiture, mapping and impossibility in Huebler; humor, didacticism, choice and chance in Baldessari. This project looks back continuously to significant precursors, in particular the work of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), as a means of engaging the status and function of art after the Readymade, particularly as concerns de-skilling, disinterest, affirmative irony, and nominalism, as well as the dialectic between inclusivity and inconclusivity.

This dissertation offers a reconsideration of the uses of photography under the aegis of Conceptual Art between 1966 and 1973 by analyzing the ways photography challenged epistemological limits, and, despite the claims regarding the medium’s inherent indexicality, emphasized experience over exactitude, and doubt in place of certainty. By focusing on four American practitioners, I argue for the “benefit of the doubt;” in other words, for the value of disbelief and hesitation, marking the reorientation of art at this time towards critical methods which oppose all orthodoxies, including but not limited to formalist dogmas, and instead are committed to the denial of autonomy in favor of understanding meaning as infinitely contingent. The dissertation is divided among four key case studies, including Mel Bochner (n. 1940), Bruce Nauman (n. 1941), Douglas Huebler (1924-1997), and John Baldessari (n. 1931). Each chapter argues for the unique contribution of photography in relation to conceptual art practices, while also situating the projects of these individual practitioners within the broader history of the medium of photography. I explore specifically the concepts of seriality, transparency and theory in Bochner; performance, “worklessness,” and failure in Nauman; portraiture, mapping and impossibility in Huebler; humor, didacticism, choice and chance in Baldessari. This project looks back continuously to significant precursors, in particular the work of Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), as a means of engaging the status and function of art after the Readymade, particularly as concerns de-skilling, disinterest, affirmative irony, and nominalism, as well as the dialectic between inclusivity and inconclusivity.

Conceptual Art emerged as an international, avant-garde art movement in the mid-60s. Attacking the prevailing aesthetics of modern art, Conceptual artists claim that art lies not in the object itself but in the artist's idea or intention. Their asserted goals have been to combine theory with art and to eliminate the need for form in artworks. The purpose of this study was to examine and critique the key theoretical writings of three artists whose works have been recognized by the critics as significant and seminal for the Conceptual Art Movement: Joseph Kosuth, Sol LeWitt, and Terry Atkinson.Historical aspects relevant to this study included the following: (i) early twentieth-century antecedents of Conceptual Art; (ii) recent avant-garde movements of the 60s and 70s; (iii) the history and nature of the concept theories of Kosuth, LeWitt, and Atkinson; (ii) a critiqueof t ese theories in terms of their consistency and viabi ity for generating art; (iii) a comparison of Conceptual Art theories with both commonly accepted theories of art and more radical aesthetic theories of contemporary philosophers.Upon completion of this study, it was concluded that despite many ideological differences, Kosuth, LeWitt, and Atkinson agree on two key notions: (i) the locus of the "work of art" is not a physical object; and (ii) it is the artist's idea which alone accounts for the significance of an artwork. Their arguments in support of these notions are unsatisfactory. Longstanding issues in aesthetics, viz., the problems of defining art and evaluating its significance, are not resolved. The critics' acclaim of the writings critiqued in this study must therefore rest on extrinsic features such as the prestige of the artists, the relevance of the content of the writings to dominant trends in contemporary art, and the potential historical significance of their challenges to established views about art and aesthetics.

Thesis (B.A.)--Bryn Mawr College. Dept. of History of Art, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 39-40).

Thesis (M.F.A.)--Ohio State University. / Bibliography: leaf 21. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University.

Thesis (M.A.) - Simon Fraser University, 2005. / Theses (Faculty of Education) / Simon Fraser University.

Undergraduate honors paper--Mount Holyoke College, 2009. Dept. of Art. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 13).