A work of art may be understood as a conductor from the artist's mind to the viewer's. But it may never reach the viewer, or it may never leave the artist's mind.
Sol LewittRead
Ideas alone can be works of art; they are in a chain of development that may eventually find some form. All ideas need not be made physical.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ideas can be considered art even if they are not physically created.
This quote by Sol Lewitt emphasizes the notion that the conceptual aspect of art is just as valuable as its physical manifestation. Ideas have the potential to be artistic expressions on their own, existing in a continuous development process that ultimately could lead to tangible forms, while also allowing for the possibility that not all ideas need to be materialized to hold artistic significance.
Themes
IdeasArtCreativityConceptualExpression
In practice
Example use cases
Discussing the role of ideas in modern art during an exhibition.
More from Sol Lewitt
All quotes βOnce it is out of his hand the artist has no control over the way a viewer will perceive the work. Different people will understand the same thing in a different way.
Sol LewittRead
The system is the work of art; the visual work of art is the proof of the System. The visual aspect can't be understood without understanding the system. It isn't what it looks like but what it is that is of basic importance.
Sol LewittRead
Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.
Sol LewittRead
Buying books was a way anyone could acquire a work of art for very little.
Sol LewittRead
Unless you're involved with thinking about what you're doing, you end up doing the same thing over and over, and that becomes tedious and, in the end, defeating.
Sol LewittRead
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Whether I'm painting or not, I have this overweening interest in humanity. Even if I'm not working, I'm still analyzing people.
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Millions of men have lived to fight, build palaces and boundaries, shape destinies and societies; but the compelling force of all times has been the force of originality and creation profoundly affecting the roots of human spirit.
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As a language, Garbo's singularity was of the order of the concept, that of Audrey Hepburn is of the order of the substance; the face of Garbo is an Idea, that of Hepburn, an Event.
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Every film should have its own world, a logic and feel to it that expands beyond the exact image that the audience is seeing.
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