I went to a couple of Conceptual Art openings this week (and took video footage)  but did not have a chance to write them up -

Wikipedia defines Conceptual Art as

“….Conceptual art is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns…”

Meanwhile, Artlex has more of a nutshell definition of Conceptual Art -

“…Conceptual Art emerged as an art movement in the 1960s. The expression “concept art” was used in 1961 by Henry Flynt in a Fluxus publication, but it was to take on a different meaning when it was used by Joseph Kosuth (American, 1945-) and the Art & Language group (Terry Atkinson, David Bainbridge, Michael Baldwin, Harold Hurrell, Ian Burn, Mel Ramsden, Philip Pilkington, and David Rushton) in England. For the Art & Language group, concept art resulted in an art object being replaced by an analysis of it. Exponents of Conceptual Art said that artistic production should serve artistic knowledge and that the art object is not an end in itself. The first exhibition specifically devoted to Conceptual Art took place in 1970 at the New York Cultural Center under the title “Conceptual Art and Conceptual Aspects.”

And there’s even a Musuem of Conceptual Art that’s online at http://www.museumofconceptualart.com/ that’s more interesting for what’s on the site (ie: Masterpiece Helper is a Photoshop plug-in for fixing a variety of common artistic blunders, such as Monet’s blurry images and Escher’s mistakes with perspective) than the site itself.

But my own definition of Conceptual Art, and what it takes to reach me, departs from what I’ve quoted above.  I believe that I need to be altered somehow by the experience in some measurable way. 

Last night, Friday, August 24th I went to

“Carte Blanche - closing party featuring Tom Marioni” organized by Jenny Moore at Elizabeth Dee GalleryW 20 street, 545, 6-9pm

“The Great Internet Sleepover: Hosted by Eyebeam” at EyebeamW 21 street, 540, 8-10pm

In both cases, I really didn’t see the point to either of these “events” but they seemed enjoyable (though it was hot and muggy yesterday and still is today). 

Cart Blanche was a conceptual art event about people sitting in  space drinking beer - the people sitting and drinking beer and talking to each other in a empty space was the art.  Well…I don’t know about that.   For one thing….where’s the content (or have we forgotten about that?).  

I mean, having people talk and sit in an empty white room with a bunch of beer bottles and a conceptual bar, seems more like a lazy copout because someone doesn’t have content and wants you (the audience) to do THEIR work for them.

From my point of view, Conceptual Art ought to be about making people do, see, think about or feel something they would not ordinarily have done, but in the conceptual environment, will do.   As a result of experiencing the Conceptual Art piece the viewer should be, in some materially, measurable way, transformed by the experience.

Conceptual Art, in that sense, could be about “Structure” and what it leads to.   

By that definition (my own), Carte Blanche failed - because they did not get me to see, feel or do something different than I would have had I sat down and talked to anyone else where there was some beer and a few tables and chairs. 

So where’s the art in that? 

I don’t see it.

I did run into a friend and talk to him at the Carte Blanche event - but I would have talked to Russell anyway .. at any other event ..   Had a I acted differently to my friend than I might have ordinarily, because I met him at the event and the concept somehow changed my reaction….that would be “Art”; Conceptual Art.

The second event was The Great Internet Sleepover: Hosted by Eyebeam and while it was more enjoyable and had plenty of Apple Computer displays - did not seem to get across to me why it was happening.  I did not process the video for the event yet - maybe I’ll have more to say about both events which I would count as versions of Conceptual Art, when I post the video of these Conceptual Art happenings.

There was also a URL associated with the Eyebeam event, and I went to eyebeam.org and here’s what they put down as the point to The Great Internet Sleepover event:

August 24, 2007
Open to the Public 8-10PM
540 W. 21st St.

Pro net surfers and net surfing clubs camp out at Eyebeam to talk shop, play games, pitch tents, and make a hypertext mess big enough for mom to clean up in the morning. Party favors include homepages, net battles, GIF animation, dirt-style HTML and other web ephemera.

The public can get a taste of what the night will hold between 8–10PM before the artists are locked-in for the night. Come observe the pros cruise the net, share web finds of their own on public terminals, and collaborate on web-based art projects and scavenger hunts. Once the doors are shut, all the action can be followed online (to be announced), where the the artists will be collaborating and posting into the wee hours of the morning.

The Great Internet Sleepover is aimed at highlighting and supporting a developing web art movement and aesthetic. It is a chance for artists and groups creating things on the internet to meet in person, while still “keeping it on the net.”

Participating surf clubs include:

• http://doublehappiness.ilikenicethings.com/
• http://www.nastynets.com/
• http://www.supercentral.org/wordpress/

As Conceptual Art - or at least, a happening, the Eyebeam event probably was successful as I got to see people and interact with them in a different way than I might ordinarily have met them.  But I didn’t stay around long enough to do that.