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Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology - uncopy

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introduction to 557,087<br />

lucy r. lippard<br />

Benevolent societies seem persistently engaged in bringing things together that are<br />

apart, and taking things apart that are together, thus fostering the perceptual mobility<br />

ofart which is destructive ofgenuine concentration.<br />

—Edgar Wind<br />

<strong>Art</strong> has never succeeded in changing or integrating with society. Recently artists (Cage,<br />

Kaprow, Rauschenberg, Oldenburg, Rainer) have moved to encompass the world (or be encompassed<br />

by it) on a more fundamental level. Experience and awareness are, after all, shared<br />

by everyone. <strong>Art</strong> intended as pure experience doesn’t exist until someone experiences it, defying<br />

ownership, reproduction, sameness. Intangible art could break down the artificial imposition<br />

of “culture” and provide a broader audience for a tangible, object art. When automation frees<br />

millions of hours for leisure, art should gain rather than diminish in importance, for while art<br />

is not just play, it is the counterpoint to work. The time may come when art is everyone’s daily<br />

occupation, though there is no reason to think this activity will be called art.<br />

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