Conceptual Art: A Critical Anthology - uncopy

are crucially determined both in content and style by the behavior of a more basic structure
which is economic in nature.” 2 But it would be deterministic, in this case, to suppose that the
mere economic dependence of the artist, a certain external tie which links producer to consumer
(and vice-versa), is the full extent of that relationship, that the economic and social
conditions of production are explicit and can be dealt with as such; but rather they are implicit
and internalized to such a degree that they inform every aspect of our self and social consciousness
upon which all praxis is founded. The artist may then be unwittingly supportive of ideals or
conditions in relation to which he sees himself neutral or even opposed.
While a materialist critique and the dialectical method it implies is eminently useful as
a tool by which to reorient our inquiries, to attempt to situate our self-presumptions, to gauge
the implications and ramifications of our critical or practical stance, we should at the same
time recognize the historical (and ideological) nature of this tradition/model, as well as the one
from and to which we bring it to bear. A dialectical or immanent critique, however, takes
seriously the principle that it is not ideology itself which is untrue but rather its pretension to
correspond to reality. There can be no method of escape, no science, no dialectic, no objective
criteria which are not in turn subjectively assumed. The issue then becomes not so much a
question of how we can achieve a “value-free” or “objective” model or theory of art practice as
it is a question of what values and conditions of learning we in fact promote and provide
through our practice of art.
I can no more reduce the “spirit of art” to which I am still responsive, to an entirely materialistic
function than I can conversely assume it to be neutral or independent of material conditions.I
am wary of the individualism and subjectivism which pervades our self and social consciousness,
which I believe (when assumed uncritically) is actually a factor which perpetuates the oppression of
individuals in our society.Concurrently I would argue that it is only when individuals begin to
accept a responsibility for the social implications of their actions that a collective spirit or consciousness
conducive to social change can occur.While being critical of the idealistic and presumptive
notion of freedom and transcendence which informs the modernist paradigm, I myself work within
the context of that art, that tradition; in part because I am responsive to certain ideals which that
endeavor represents and recognize therein a certain emancipatory and self-reflexive capacity lacking
to varying degrees in other disciplines.My own work is tempered with realism only to the extent to
which I feel continually compelled to re-examine or redirect my course in relation to such ideals.
Throughout this essay I use the pronoun “we,” and thereby incorporate myself and others into
some abstract community, and assume a certain sympathy amongst the members so included.This is
in part a function of the fact that I see myself as a participant in a real community which in my case
sarah charlesworth a declaration ofdependence 311