Art Since 1945 Concept

Drew McDermott March 26 2013

In 1969 Sol LeWitt wrote 35 sentences to describe Conceptual art. Although these sentences purpose was primarily to introduce the idea of conceptual art, the statements can easily be applied to other artistic movements, in this case abstract art. Abstract art is simply the execution of a conceptual artwork. One such example of this is 612-1 Untitled by Gerhard Richter, created in 1986. In the beginning of Sol LeWitts sentences he instructs the artist how they should go about executing the idea. He explains how the idea should influence the artists execution. 6. If the artist changes his mind midway through the execution of the piece he compromises the result and repeats past results. 7. The artists will is secondary to the process he initiates from idea to completion. His willfulness may only be ego.1 Sentences 6 and 7 show the experimental nature of contemporary art, by forcing the artist to follow through with their idea from concept throughout execution, unchanging, Sol specifically states it is to avoid past results. However, there are other consequences to this methodology, by having the artist execute in such a way that their creativity should not be heavily involved after the initial concept of the idea, the art is more focused around the idea rather than how it is executed. Sol goes on to write more sentences explain about how the artist should think about the piece as it is being created.
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LeWitt, p.850

22. The artist cannot imagine his art, and cannot perceive it until it is complete. 23. The artist may misperceive (understand it differently from the artist) a work of art but still be set off in his own chain of thought by that misconstrual. 2 Unlike the more traditional arts where artists would either observe the subject matter or imagine it, the conceptual and abstract artists are unable to visualize the end result because their goal is not to recreate an image but rather to utilize tools and methods to create a result which is unimaginable until the artist decides the work is complete. Richter states: When I paint an abstract picture (the problem is very much the same in other cases), I neither know in advance what it is meant to look like nor, during the painting process, what I am aiming at and what to do about getting there. Painting is consequently an almost blind, desperate effort, like that of a person abandoned, helpless, in totally incomprehensible surroundings like that of a person who possesses a given set of tools, materials and abilities and has the urgent desire to build something useful which is not allowed to be a house or a chair or anything else that has a name; who therefore hacks away in the vague hope that by working in a proper, professional way he will ultimately turn out something proper and meaningful.3 In Sols sentences he also sees the process as a blind and mechanical, specifically in sentences 28 and 29 he states: 28. Once the idea of the piece is established in the artist's mind and the final form is decided, the process is carried out blindly. There are many side effects that the artist cannot imagine. These may be used as ideas for new works.
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LeWitt, p. 850 Richter, Quotes

29. The process is mechanical and should not be tampered with. It should run its course.4 Richter is carrying out a very mechanical idea by doing simple actions to paint, change, or destroy parts of an image until he finds it is finished. Even if the actions are based on an emotional response to the piece the actions Richter does are mechanical. The process of creating Untitled 612-1 was similar to how Sol LeWitt proposes to execute conceptual art. 612-1 is in a set of many Richter paintings which are based on the following concept: The painting began as a planned geometric composition, which [Richter] then defaced with a large squeegee.5 Each painting based on this concept is an execution of the concept. Richter states I am often astonished to find how much better chance is than I am."6 This statement shows Richter admits a certain amount of chance that the painting will turn out as he performs squeegee strokes. This is similar to Sols sentence 22. Allowing for unpredictable consequences, multiple works of the same concept may turn out entirely different from each other. The original composition is impossible to determine after the use of the squeegee. In 612-1 the colors are mostly de-saturated primary colors as well as black white and a dark green. It appears that the base color of the composition is black and the other colors were painted thick on top of it before the squeegeeing strokes. In this panting it is fairly easy to see individual strokes of the squeegee. For example, on the left hand side of the painting there is a large swath of white. In the lower portion of the white a large squeegee was used to pull the

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LeWitt, p. 850 Carnegie Museum of Art: Wall Plaque for Untitled 612-1 by Gerard Richter 6 Richter, Quotes

white paint up and to the left, this is obvious due to the areas where there are black dots smeared in that direction. There are also different patterns and styles of marks created with the squeegees. Two such marks appear to be done possibly with the side of a squeegee, creating deep gashes through the layers of paint forming a sideways V in the top middle of the painting. The process of squeegeeing was likely done without much forethought but rather spur of the moment decisions. The overall piece is created by the Richter preforming a stroke, observing the results and them making more strokes. This is unlike more traditional painting where each stroke is planned in order to create a specific image. Richter states: If, while I'm painting, I distort or destroy a motif, it is not a planned or conscious act, but rather it has a different justification: I see the motif, the way I painted it, is somehow ugly or unbearable. Then I try to follow my feelings and make it attractive. And that means a process of painting, changing or destroying for however long it takes until I think it has improved. And I don't demand an explanation from myself as to why this is so.7 Richters method is reactionary; it is an observation of the current state of the piece, determining if something should be modified or not if he feels as if the piece is complete. The nature of abstract art, being a plan set in place without knowledge of what the final product may look like, follows Sol LeWitts ideas for how contemporary art should be utilized. Richter puts thought into how the piece should be setup and what techniques he should use but the emphasis is not on how he intends the final image to look but rather an emphasis on

Richter, Quotes

the processes that created the image. Without having a plan set in place for how the image should look Richter has the freedom to experiment with different strokes until he settles on a final version of the idea. In many ways this is an extension of the philosophy in conceptual art that the artist does not know what the final form of their idea may become.

Works Cited
LeWitt, Sol Sentences on Conceptual Art (1969) in Charles Harrison and Paul Wood, eds., Art in Theory: 1900-2000: An Anthology of Changing Ideas (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), p. 849-851. Richter, Gerhard. Quotes. Gerard Richter. <http://www.gerhardrichter.com/quotes/>. Accessed: 26 March 2013.