NON-INDISPUTABLE RELATIONS: SELECTED RELATIONS OF CONCEPTUAL ART AND PERFORMANCE (PART ONE)1

Abstract

The text concerns two major concepts in the art of the last half of this century: conceptual art and performance. Conceptual art, which crystallized in the 1960s, has become one of the fundamentally seminal movements in contemporary art. Performance – a phenomenon with long history, since 1970s has been treated as an independent art genre. These two phenomena happen to be merged in various context; both feature an approach directed against the commoditization of art. However, in other areas and contexts crucial differences between these concepts can be perceived. Conceptual artists have adopted an analytical-index relation to objects in their approach. During performances objects often play a major (also emotional) role, being left behind as documentation. Conceptual art, distancing itself from the so called “retinal art”, i.e. the one that pleases the eye, has adopted utilization of texts or other linguistic materials as an important method of expression. For performance artists (except for performance lecturers), texts and descriptions are located on the outskirts, i.e. as plans preceding actions and descriptions following them. The discussed disciplines of art differ in their approach to media, as well: conceptual art treats them purely functionally, in performances they are of bigger importance, for example combined with multimedia. The conclusion attracts attention to the complicated relations between the two concepts: conceptualism and performance art, taking into account related activities in the 1970s and the difference in approach in the successive years.