Democratising conceptual art : what about the spectator?
- Author
- Alexandra Van Laeken (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- In this paper I elaborate upon the elitist character of the mainstream theories on conceptual art. I show that the elitism is founded on wrong presumptions concerning the relation between artists and spectators. Working from the philosophy of Jacques Rancière, I reject the hierarchical structure present in the mainstream theories on conceptual art. Instead, I propose to take a ‘democratic turn’, as understood by Rancière. In such an outlook, the contribution of the spectator is revalued as equally active and creative as the contribution of the artist. The democratic turn has serious consequences for the theoretical foundation of conceptual art. We can no longer maintain that the conceptual work of art is solely the artist's idea, nor that the material appearance is negligible. Furthermore, the democratic alternative opens up conceptual art for a broader audience, while the very core of its practice remains intact, namely that the idea behind it is essential. But it adds an important caveat: what the idea represents is more than what the artist initially had in mind.
- Keywords
- aesthetics, politics, conceptual art, Jacques Rancière, emancipation, elitism
Downloads
-
Democratising Conceptual Art.pdf
- full text (Published version)
- |
- open access
- |
- |
- 512.45 KB
Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-01GR6FBB86FV9NWXCKW6HKYYCJ
- MLA
- Van Laeken, Alexandra. “Democratising Conceptual Art : What about the Spectator?” AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS, vol. 5, no. 2, 2022, pp. 159–72, doi:10.58519/aesthinv.v5i2.12781.
- APA
- Van Laeken, A. (2022). Democratising conceptual art : what about the spectator? AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS, 5(2), 159–172. https://doi.org/10.58519/aesthinv.v5i2.12781
- Chicago author-date
- Van Laeken, Alexandra. 2022. “Democratising Conceptual Art : What about the Spectator?” AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS 5 (2): 159–72. https://doi.org/10.58519/aesthinv.v5i2.12781.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Van Laeken, Alexandra. 2022. “Democratising Conceptual Art : What about the Spectator?” AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS 5 (2): 159–172. doi:10.58519/aesthinv.v5i2.12781.
- Vancouver
- 1.Van Laeken A. Democratising conceptual art : what about the spectator? AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS. 2022;5(2):159–72.
- IEEE
- [1]A. Van Laeken, “Democratising conceptual art : what about the spectator?,” AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 159–172, 2022.
@article{01GR6FBB86FV9NWXCKW6HKYYCJ, abstract = {{In this paper I elaborate upon the elitist character of the mainstream theories on conceptual art. I show that the elitism is founded on wrong presumptions concerning the relation between artists and spectators. Working from the philosophy of Jacques Rancière, I reject the hierarchical structure present in the mainstream theories on conceptual art. Instead, I propose to take a ‘democratic turn’, as understood by Rancière. In such an outlook, the contribution of the spectator is revalued as equally active and creative as the contribution of the artist. The democratic turn has serious consequences for the theoretical foundation of conceptual art. We can no longer maintain that the conceptual work of art is solely the artist's idea, nor that the material appearance is negligible. Furthermore, the democratic alternative opens up conceptual art for a broader audience, while the very core of its practice remains intact, namely that the idea behind it is essential. But it adds an important caveat: what the idea represents is more than what the artist initially had in mind.}}, author = {{Van Laeken, Alexandra}}, issn = {{2352-2704}}, journal = {{AESTHETIC INVESTIGATIONS}}, keywords = {{aesthetics,politics,conceptual art,Jacques Rancière,emancipation,elitism}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{2}}, pages = {{159--172}}, title = {{Democratising conceptual art : what about the spectator?}}, url = {{http://doi.org/10.58519/aesthinv.v5i2.12781}}, volume = {{5}}, year = {{2022}}, }
- Altmetric
- View in Altmetric