[NewMusic] the re-materialization of the conceptual art argument between me & Barry

[Sarah - 21 Grand]

Barry writes:
Why is the typewriter example a more valid statement?

- I'm not claiming that any of your "theoretical" conceptual art projects
aren't valid. Validity isn't the question in my mind - it's whether or not
it's any good. Ed Ruscha's typewriter piece made for some nice photos and
others appreciate the poetic gesture of it.

leading us to:
I guess my real question is: What are the aesthetic criteria by which we can
judge ideas?

- What are the aesthetic criteria by which one judges other art?

You said in an earlier post that you aspire to make music that is beautiful.
There are artists working in a conceptual vein that aim to do the same
thing, kinda in that "practice random acts of kindness" mode - a negative
stereotype of this is something like the guy in "American Beauty" captivated
by the plastic bag sweeping along the street. The web-based "learning to
love you more" project of Harrell Fletcher and Miranda July is in this vein.
Some work results in documentation or process-based objects that are
beautiful, or attempt to be.

To a certain extent conceptual work sets its own terms and one judges it
based on whether it did what it claimed to do. In some ways it's a
philosophical beauty or the beauty of a good argument.

Other aesthetic criteria for conceptual art/ideas:
- is it interesting? Does it make you think about something in a new way?

- is it impressive in terms of the execution - almost everything you've
brought up in this debate has been the equivalent of one-liners, but there
are plenty of examples of conceptual art that are process-driven that
require a lot of work or work that one views as difficult - Chris Burden
getting shot in the arm, nailed to a Volkswagen, the New York artist from
the late 70s/early 80s that punched a time clock every day.

- is it funny/clever? For everyone who hasn't heard of it or heard the thing
itself, there's America's Most Unwanted Song conceived by conceptual artists
Komar and Malamid featuring the operatic rapping of our own Dina Emerson.
Personally I can't understand why so many people would not want to hear the
children singing "Ramadan Ramadan Lots of praying and no breakfast ... Do
all your shopping at Wal-Mart" plus bagpipes, tubas ... awesome.
> http://mulatta.org/mp3s/The%20Most%20Unwanted%20Song.mp3

- is it well-crafted? I think it's a misnomer that conceptual art is
object-free. As I said before, it's more common than not for there to be
some object referent to the work, even if solely in terms of documentation.
Is the idea presented well?

The cover story in the East Bay Express a couple weeks ago was about a
conceptual art project
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/2007-01-31/news/artists-inc/

sl