Conceptual

Conceptual art is a movement of the second half of the twentieth century for which the idea or intention of a work matters more than its material embodiment and aesthetic form. As one of the movement's theorists, Sol LeWitt, put it, "the idea becomes a machine that makes the art": the mental concept itself, rather than skill of execution or beauty of the object, is recognized as the true content. Conceptual works are therefore often stripped of traditional "pictorialism" and appear as texts, instructions, documentation, photographs, diagrams, ready-made objects or ephemeral actions. The style questions the status of the art object, the role of the artist, the museum and the market, drawing the viewer into intellectual play and critical reflection. The movement's origins are linked to Marcel Duchamp's "Fountain," while classic examples were created by Joseph Kosuth with "One and Three Chairs," Lawrence Weiner, the Art & Language group and Yoko Ono with her instruction pieces. The language of conceptualism is the analysis of the very notion of art, the investigation of the relation between word, image and thing. In the Eastern European context a Soviet conceptualist circle developed, and in Ukraine kindred practices marked the work of nonconformist artists and later actionist and media experiments. By renouncing the unique handmade object in favor of thought, conceptual art radically expanded the boundaries of art and prepared the ground for performance, installation and contemporary post-medium practices.