Think about it!
What type of art do you like? What type of art don’t you like? Who are some of your favourite artists? Why do you like
them? What are some of your favourite art galleries? Do you ever paint or draw? What do you paint or draw? Are there
any famous artists from your country? Who are they? What are they famous for?
Read & listen II
Track 14: Englishman & us woman
Modern art with a difference. By Lauren Katz
Conceptual Art
S
Answers on page 45
1
Pre-reading
What are some of the most
unusual pieces of art you’ve
ever seen? Try to think of at
least two.
2
Reading I
Read the article once. Which
work of art is the most
unusual? Why?
3
Reading II
Read the article again. Then,
write the name of an artist/s
next to each statement.
1. He bought a page
of blank space
in a newspaper.
2. One of his works of art
consisted of a room
with the lights going on
and off.
3. They caused a traffic
jam in Paris.
4. He inserted a long metal
rod into the earth.
5. He held an exhibition
with nothing in it except
a large cabinet.
6. He took a series of
photos every two
minutes.
7. One of her works of
art consisted of a bed
surrounded by rubbish.
culptures. Landscapes.
Portraits. Art comes
in many forms. But
conceptual art takes it all to a
whole new level. As American
artist Sol LeWitt (1928-2007)
once said, “In conceptual
art, the idea or concept is the
most important aspect of the
work.” With that in mind, how
would you rate these works of
conceptual art?
In 1958, French artist Yves
Klein held an exhibition at the
Iris Clert Gallery called The
Specialisation of Sensibility in
the Raw Material State into
Stabilised Pictorial Sensibility,
The Void. As part of this, he
took everything out of the
gallery space except a large
cabinet. After a successful
publicity drive, 3,000 people
queued up on the opening
night, only to be taken into an
empty room.
In 1962, married couple
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
created a temporary work of
art known as The Iron Curtain.
This consisted of a barricade
of oil barrels in Rue Visconti,
an extremely narrow street in
Paris (with an average width
of just 3 metres). According to
the artists, the artwork wasn’t
the barricade but the resulting
traffic jam.
In 1970, Douglas Huebler
exhibited a series of
photographs which were
taken every two minutes
whilst driving along a road
for 24 minutes.
In 1972, Fred Forest bought
a page of blank space in the
newspaper Le Monde and
invited readers to fill it with
their own works of art.
In 1976, Christo and JeanneClaude (once again) set up an
installation art piece known
as Running Fence, which was
taken down after 14 days. The
piece consisted of a white,
nylon fence that stretched for
39.4 km in northern California
(USA). The 5.5 metre high
fabric for the fence was hung
on 350,000 hooks that were
attached to steel cables.
In 1977, Walter De Maria
placed a one-kilometre
brass rod into the earth in
Kassel (Germany). Nothing
remained visible except a few
centimetres of the rod. The
work of art was known as
Vertical Earth Kilometer. As
the artist explained, it existed
mostly “in the viewer’s mind”.
In 1980, Sophie Calle created
The Sleepers, which consisted
of photographs of people in
a bed. The photos were taken
over a period of eight days,
and the subjects were friends
or strangers.
In 1999, Tracey Emin was
nominated for the Turner
Prize. One of her works, My
Bed, consisted of a dishevelled
bed surrounded by rubbish.
In 2001, Martin Creed won
the Turner Prize for his work
called The Lights Going On
and Off, which consisted of
an empty room in which the
lights went… on and off.
In 2005, Simon Starling
won the Turner Prize for
Shedboatshed. As part of this,
a wooden shed was turned
into a boat and then floated
down the Rhine. Later, the
boat was turned into a shed
again.
Fascinating!
GLOSSARY
conceptual art n
the objective of most “conceptual art” is to
communicate an idea, message or concept
a cabinet n
a piece of furniture often with a glass front
for showing nice things
a publicity drive n
if there is a “publicity drive”, a company does
things to advertise / promote something
an opening night n
the first night of an exhibition, etc.
temporary adj something “temporary” lasts for a short
period of time
a barricade n
a barrier across a street (for example) to
stop others from entering an area
an oil barrel n
a large container for oil
a traffic jam n
if there’s a “traffic jam”, there are many cars
in the road and they aren’t moving
a blank space n
a part of a page with no writing / images on it
installation art n
a piece of art (often a large sculpture built
with different materials) that is created and
exhibited outside
a fence n
a type of metal / wooden, etc. barrier to stop
people entering an area
to stretch vb
if something “stretches” from A to B, it goes
from A to B
to hang vb
if something is “hanging”, it is attached to a
high area and moving freely
a hook n
a piece of metal that is curved (in a semicircular shape) and that can be used to
hang something from it
a cable n
a thick wire (a long, thin piece of metal)
a brass rod n
a long piece of metal. Brass is a type of
golden metal made from copper and zinc
a mind n
the part of your body where you do all the
thinking
the Turner Prize n
a British prize for works of modern art
dishevelled adj if something is “dishevelled”, it isn’t tidy
(ordered)
rubbish n
old bits of paper / food that you throw away
a shed n
a small, one-roomed wooden construction
in the garden for keeping things
to turn into phr vb
if you “turn” A “into” B, A becomes B
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