Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology - uncopy

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It’s something not good or bad, right or wrong, question or answer, all or nothing, for
or against, art or anti-art. It’s something neutral that exists once seen, something irreducible.
The supposed observer is finally free, lucid, and mature. He can choose.
I must insist that, besides this oft-repeated “thing” displayed, there is the way it is presented.
I’ll call this the packaging. This goes from the place where paintings are presented, to
the show that reprimands the public, and even the interview that we are now having. The
packaging is an important point, since its aim is to clarify things, to set the record straight. But
obviously it must not be confused with what is displayed. There is the painting, and there is
the packaging: I claim the latter because it is consistent with the former. Consequently, the
packaging is acceptable because the painting is justifiable. Besides this, and as a point of comparison,
I will say that art is only packaging....
This interview was first published as “Entretien avec Daniel Buren: L’art n’est plus justifiable ou
les points sur les ‘i’,” in Les Lettres Francaises (Paris, 13 March 1968), pp. 28–29. Translated
by Alex Alberro, this is its first publication in English.