Chapter 13: The State of Artworks in 1969
The chapter provides an account of the state of the artworks in 1969 in the U.S., specially in New York City. The author stated that the course of avant-garde exhibitions reached its watershed in 1969. It used to be also the year that marked a critical development in the field of art, especially following the significant help from the public as well as the institutional and commercial systems.
The Changes in Advanced Art
The chapter further examines the more than a few changes experienced in the advanced art. The previously artists focused majorly on political agitations and embracing social forms. However, those who existed in 1969 generated new modes of art and displayed extra innovations in exhibitions. They made a significant step to move away from what became to be accepted as an art of the past.
The Progress of Advanced Art in New York
The progress of advanced art was in New York from the beginning of 1964 when Seth Siegelaub, an exhibition organizer, and artist, established a standardized kind of art gallery. The mode of presentation of art in a "white box" through verbal mean was a new concept. The presentation of the art in a linguistic form was described as the catalogue. Many artists such as Joseph Kosuth, Robert Barry, Lawrence Weiner, and Douglas Huebler developed the concept of the catalogue in a fashionable way. These artists concentrated much in critically investigating the nature of art. In an interview, Kosuth asserted that developing art as an idea was the primary intention of every artist in 1969 (Williams, 248).
Exchange of Ideas and Enhancing Art
In the last sections of the chapter, the author acknowledged the efforts of the artists at that time in borrowing ideas across the continent to improve the art. American artists traveled to Europe and organized workshops where they shared ideas on how to enhance the art. The cultural institutions and galleries became the moving force of art.
Williams, Richard J. After Modern Sculpture: Art in the United States and Europe, 1965-70. Manchester University Press, 2000.
