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
All of the significant art of today stems from Conceptual art. This includes the art of installation, political, feminist and socially directed art.
Interpretation
Conceptual art is the foundation for much of today's significant art, influencing various movements.
In this quote, Sol Lewitt emphasizes the pivotal role of Conceptual art as the underlying source of contemporary artistic expressions. He suggests that many modern artistic forms, such as installation art and those addressing political, feminist, and social issues, have evolved from the ideas and principles established by Conceptual art, highlighting its transformative impact on the art world.
In practice
In a lecture discussing the evolution of art movements, this quote could illustrate the foundational role of Conceptual art.
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.
Once 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.
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.
Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.
Buying books was a way anyone could acquire a work of art for very little.
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.
Every good writer or filmmaker has something eating at them, right? That they can't quite get off their back . And so your job is to make your audience care about your obsessions.
It skims in through the eye, and by means of the utterly delicate retina hurls shadows like insect legs inward for translation. Then an immense space opens up in silence and an endlessly fecund sub-universe the writer descends, and asks the reader to descend after him, not merely to gain instructions but also to experience delight, the delight of mind freed from matter and exultant in the strength it has stolen from matter.
Art always opts for the individual, the concrete; art is not Platonic.
My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.
There were some advantages to being a woman photographer. I think women have more empathy with the subject.
[W]hat counts is that one perceives excellence and dares to give it expression, which sounds little but is in fact a great deal.
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