Random work
After reading the writings of Lewitt, Goldsmith and Altman, I have to concede that I am still not wholly sure of what conceptual art or conceptual text is. This vagueness of definition is why I selected the title “Random work” for my entry - I felt like there was no clear boundary between what was or was not conceptual work.
However, reading more about it has led me to believe that conceptual text is a form of literature where “the idea or concept is the most important aspect,” and the appearance of completion or aesthetic appeal is of secondary importance (Goldsmith, 2005). Perhaps what characterises conceptual work is the absence of any clearly definable structure or format, but above all the presence of an idea or certain key feature.
One example of conceptual work which comes to mind for me would be the product of our in-class publication exercise: E-Lit: What Is It? Revised & Expanded UCLA Edition, v2.01. The book’s original format was distorted with our numerous additions, to the point where it looked unstructured and unpredictable. However, the key idea behind making it was just adding more information based on what was already in the reading to build a more comprehensive account of the people and contents in it.
While conceptual work may seem ambiguous and thus lacking in clear purpose, I feel that conceptual writing is very valuable, particularly on the Internet where it is viewable by countless. On social media such as Twitter, for example, people can even follow and interact with examples of conceptual writing.
Conceptual writing can be very impressive, as in the case of @everyword, which spent 7 years (2007-2014) to successfully tweet every word in the English language. I found myself amused that someone actually commenced this endeavour, and impressed that it was actually completed. This could be an example of conceptual writing because the Twitter just tweeted words one at a time without further contextualisation, but there was a primary goal of tweeting every English word. Perhaps this is an example of serial text as well, since the various tweets eventually came together to form a single product – a collection of every English word.
Conceptual writing can also amuse and entertain. One of the most prominent examples of this would be @MayorEmanuel, the fake Twitter account of Chicago’s mayor. It seems that what allowed the Twitter to attract such a large following was its “profane, lyrical and heartfelt” nature, something I found to be true when viewing it (Gustin, 2011). The tweets seemed so absurd, non-sequitur and ill-befitting a mayor, but that was what allowed this example of conceptual writing to be so comical and popular. Another example can be seen in @Horse_ebooks, which generates sometimes hilariously nonsensical tweets, and at times very relatable ones such as “Everything happens so much.” I think that because what is most key to conceptual writing is the idea, this allows conceptual writing to resonate with many or at least encourage them to continue interacting with it.
What I have learnt is that conceptual art and text may not be easily definable, but it is nonetheless recognisable. The process of creating and viewing it can actually be fun, and it is a meaningful addition to our world, particularly in the online sphere where it can reach many.
