Drucker Response

     In “The Crux of Conceptualism; Conceptual Art, the Idea of Idea, and the Information Paradigm,” Johanna Drucker discusses Conceptual art and its relationship between language and philosophy as well as the way information processing works. Never coming across the term Conceptual art before, I had found that “…when an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art” as it was defined by the artist, Sol Lewitt. This then helped me at least get a heads up of what Drucker is arguing about. Though a difficult read overall, I was able to catch that a lot of what Johanna Drucker is referring to is the focus on the idea and meaning behind the origin of a piece of art and the what it says or means to the viewer. She explains that the purpose of Conceptual art is “to embrace concepts that are broader an more cerebral than the expected product of the studio” and is pointing out that it is beyond the final product or simply an object (253).

     Reading the article I was a bit lost with many unfamiliar terms and names. However, I found my way in her thoughts when Drucker mentions that human habits of reading, “depend upon our ability to render transparent inscribed language (260).” Saying this after referencing works of art with just words or phrases made me understand that many just look at the service simply out of habit and that a truer meaning is found deeper and “between the lines.”

I included an image of something called a triptych where the central panel carries the subject, the two lateral panels add to the meaning. The subject here is 1965, the year when US started bombing Vietnam. The panels adding to the meaning can be taken in a number of different ways, depending on what is deeper felt by the viewer and the attachment to the event. It caught my eye as it gives everyone their own personal experience when viewing it.