Drucker: Contemporary Art

Drucker asserts her argument at the beginning of this article by stating that conceptual art has "the tendency to reduce idea to linguistic propositions" (251). Her using the word "reduce" expressed to me that, in her opinion, conceptual art has not only negatively contributed to the evolution of art, but its emphasis on meaning in place of production has, by consequence, attuned itself to society's infatuation with technology and information-- a mainstream facet of our culture that she and others like her don't think is a valid foundation for artistic expression.

Delving into the linguistic characteristic of conceptual art, Drucker argues against the theories of Kosuth and Wittgenstein that logical language is the most-valued expression of human thought. She further states that such a perspective "seriously misrepresents the physical... and phenomenologically available sensations that have no equivalent in a linguistic idea" (256). I agree with this part of her argument. The obvious non-linguistic element that could inspire artistic creation is an emotion. Everyone knows how powerful emotions can be; different emotions give humans different perspectives. A person wouldn't intentionally picture the word "grieving" in their head or speak it when they experience the death of a loved one, but the deep feeling of sadness is potent enough to inspire an idea.

However, though the purpose for conceptual art is to convey the meaning of an artist's idea, it is still an expression of an idea, and it can certainly inspire thought from audiences. Buchloch's perspective that conceptual art is "an expression of a managerial sensibility" (265) alludes to the fact that the artist creates such a piece with an intended response, shaping "the conditions of meaning." I openly admit to being very inexperienced with visual art in general. In spite of that, my simple opinion of it is that it is based upon a person's desire to express something. Furthermore with visual art, I think a person wants to materialize that thing (an idea, emotion, experience) and give it an opportunity to be seen and interpreted. In reference to Baldessari's Pure Beauty, Drucker talks of the artist's work having self-conscious ironic commentary (260). My point is that her opinion is her subjective interpretation of that work. Someone else's could be completely different, and that's what I consider the point of art- to inspire thought and/or an emotional reaction, whatever that may be.

The image I selected is an anti-war poster designed in 1970 by George and Joe Simboli. The first idea that comes to mind is pretty obvious; that starting a war would cause a destructive unraveling of human lives. But looking more into the composition of the image, it's important to note the playful, artfully devious font of "pull!", giving the notion that people who are deciding whether to wage a war or not consider it something much less than the ominous, uncontrollable entity that it certainly becomes. -Annie Schmid