1- Conceptual art is a product of modernity and postmodernism. In conceptual art, the idea and concept in the work has priority over the usual aesthetics and the materials used in it.
Kabul 24: What is important in conceptual art is the artist’s thought, not the appearance of the work. Central idea, diversity in execution and use of any kind of materials in presenting ideas, forcing the audience to think, creativity and diversity, and challenging the traditional concepts of art, are among the most important features of conceptual art.
Therefore, what is important in conceptual art is not the form of its execution, but what the artist’s statement says about the work? Today, audiences, managers and buyers of artworks refer to the artist’s statement about his work before anything else. So that conceptual art does not exist without statement. I said that conceptual art does not last long.
In the age of modernity, one of the pioneers is Marcel Duchamp, his famous work called Fountain is just a representation of a toilet bowl, which he had no involvement in making. The fact that our minds are unable to understand conceptual art can be because we haven’t had modern and postmodern lived experience.
In other words, we have not gone through the developmental stages of a natural course. For example, in the case of art, postmodernism is the result of the artist’s disillusionment with the modern era. Or Charlie Chaplin has expressed his satirical and humorous view of the car in his film Modern Age.
I want to say that the artist actually expresses the feedback of his lived experiences. Postmodernism in art is like if we have eaten rice for a lifetime and now we have taken our hearts and go for another food as a sign of protest. While if we have never eaten rice, there is no reason to feel disappointed about eating rice. Conceptual art means the same thing, disillusionment with modernism and more extreme than that, postmodernism.
2- The other side of art is capital. It is understandable for me how a work of art affects our soul and mind or surprises us. But I can’t understand why someone would pay a hundred million for a Lucien Freud painting. Really, what went through Sheikh Salman’s mind when he paid 400 million for the painting of Christ the Savior. Why can’t you or I have a work of our favorite artist in our homes?
From the point of view of the capital system, what makes the work important is not the idea of the work, but the money that is paid to own it. Capital makes the Saudi prince buy credit for himself with money. This money is not necessarily in the artist’s pocket. Hundreds of broker chains work hand in hand to benefit everyone in the capital hierarchy, regardless of which emotional relationship they have with themselves.
They don’t get any pleasure from the artwork, their pleasure is when we say: Wow, he owns this unique piece.
3- The story of Kileh and Chesep is the same. What was going through the mind of the author of the work, may not be completely and accurately understood by us. The mind of the audience can think about anything and this is the characteristic of conceptual art. Even the artist can create the work for no reason. But he has reached his goal because his conceptual work can be explained and justified in the context of postmodern art. If you are a fan of art for art’s sake, this work can be an example of this type of look.
4- For a person to pay a few million for a two-dollar bag and sticker is as ridiculous as saying why a money donkey shouldn’t pay a few million for a bag and a sticker to be seen.
Mohsen Hossein
