This lesson plan provides an introduction to the works of American artists of the 1960s and 1970s at the National Gallery of Canada.
Title:
New Ideas New Materials
Theme:
The art of the ‘60s and ‘70s emerged from the conflict and social change of the time. Political policies were radically challenged and completely altered as a result of the upheavals of those years which precipitated outspoken criticism of the values of the time: the Vietnam war, the struggle for equal rights for women and blacks, utopian communes based on the reduction of material possessions and saving the environment, counter-culture movements providing alternatives to traditional education and medicine. In this spirit of challenge, change, and experimentation, young artists disconnected their work from the social issues in order to concentrate exclusively on aesthetic experience. This new group of artists radically altered their production in order to question in a fundamental manner the entire practice of art-making and the gallery Systems. This lesson plan introduces the concepts of Minimal art, “Process” art, and
Conceptual art.
Summary:
These American artists have challenged the traditional nature, function, and meaning of art: notions about the value of the art object as a commodity to be bought and sold, about craftsmanship, authorship, the uniqueness of the art object and its dependence on the art environment, were explored by these artists. In their rigorous investigation of the conventions of pictorial and sculptural representation, they have changed the look of art in a radical way.
The foremost concern of the Minimal artists Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Sol LeWitt, and Dan Flavin , was how to use space as a primary element of their art. They began making sculptures of a radical simplicity, abandoning traditional composition, and rejecting surface detail and hierarchical relationships, so that the physical properties of the materials would be perceived with greater clarity. Their critical discussions about the nature of painting itself became the basis for their inquiries into the definition of the art object. What classified something as art? What properties belong uniquely to sculpture? Such questions would lead to a consideration of volume, mass, weight, and the role of space. Questioning the nature of experience and knowledge, these young idealistic artists became critics themselves, writing about their own art and that of their peers. Their theoretical positions, informed in varying degrees by inquiries into phenomenology, behavioural psychology, metaphysics, and Eastern philosophies, were sometimes publicly articulated. As Robert Morris pointed out, simple shapes should not be equated with simplicity of experience. The simplicity of forms is a disguise for the complexity of thought that gave them definition.
Beginning in the late 60’s, some American artists placed greater emphasis on the process of making an art object. The inherent properties of the materials used determined the final outcome of the form. These artists abandoned control and allowed chance and the physical characteristics of the materials to determine the final look of the work. Artists like Robert Morris, once a leading spokesman for Minimalism, began to reject the order, structural clarity, and precision of Minimalism. In place of preconceived forms and strictly delineated shapes he began using non?rigid materials in loose, indeterminate arrangements, giving them a feel of disorder and chaos. Because of the emphasis on the process of making, and the way the inherent properties of materials determined the final outcome of the form, these works were called “Process” art.
Art that is intended to convey an idea or a concept to the perceiver. Conceptual art rejects the creation or appreciation of a traditional art object such as a painting or a sculpture as a precious commodity. Conceptual Art emerged as an art movement in the 1960s and dealt with issues resulting in an art object being replaced by an analysis of it. Also the idea that artistic production should serve artistic knowledge and that the art object is not an end in itself were important concepts of this movement. Conceptual artists began to question the very site of the artist’s activity. As the parameters of art expanded and the field of experimentation became more diverse these artists were conceiving works that existed principally as ideas, using language, text, and photography to document their ideaart. “Conceptual” art reclaimed the artist’s role in the process of creation. It questioned the validity of the art object, its commodity status, and its form of distribution.
The foremost concern of the Minimal artists Donald Judd, Carl Andre, Robert Morris, Sol LeWitt, and Dan Flavin , was how to use space as a primary element of their art. They began making sculptures of a radical simplicity, abandoning traditional composition, and rejecting surface detail and hierarchical relationships, so that the physical properties of the materials would be perceived with greater clarity. Their critical discussions about the nature of painting itself became the basis for their inquiries into the definition of the art object. What classified something as art? What properties belong uniquely to sculpture? Such questions would lead to a consideration of volume, mass, weight, and the role of space. Questioning the nature of experience and knowledge, these young idealistic artists became critics themselves, writing about their own art and that of their peers. Their theoretical positions, informed in varying degrees by inquiries into phenomenology, behavioural psychology, metaphysics, and Eastern philosophies, were sometimes publicly articulated. As Robert Morris pointed out, simple shapes should not be equated with simplicity of experience. The simplicity of forms is a disguise for the complexity of thought that gave them definition.
Beginning in the late 60’s, some American artists placed greater emphasis on the process of making an art object. The inherent properties of the materials used determined the final outcome of the form. These artists abandoned control and allowed chance and the physical characteristics of the materials to determine the final look of the work. Artists like Robert Morris, once a leading spokesman for Minimalism, began to reject the order, structural clarity, and precision of Minimalism. In place of preconceived forms and strictly delineated shapes he began using non?rigid materials in loose, indeterminate arrangements, giving them a feel of disorder and chaos. Because of the emphasis on the process of making, and the way the inherent properties of materials determined the final outcome of the form, these works were called “Process” art.
Art that is intended to convey an idea or a concept to the perceiver. Conceptual art rejects the creation or appreciation of a traditional art object such as a painting or a sculpture as a precious commodity. Conceptual Art emerged as an art movement in the 1960s and dealt with issues resulting in an art object being replaced by an analysis of it. Also the idea that artistic production should serve artistic knowledge and that the art object is not an end in itself were important concepts of this movement. Conceptual artists began to question the very site of the artist’s activity. As the parameters of art expanded and the field of experimentation became more diverse these artists were conceiving works that existed principally as ideas, using language, text, and photography to document their ideaart. “Conceptual” art reclaimed the artist’s role in the process of creation. It questioned the validity of the art object, its commodity status, and its form of distribution. 
