Art as art theory: critical notes on Joseph Kosuth and conceptual art in its origins

  • Eduardo Cesar Maia Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brasil
Keywords: Art Theory, Kosuth, Aesthetics

Abstract

Contrary to what the theoretical perspective of a pioneer of conceptual art like Joseph Kosuth supposes, I defend in this essay that, if we adopt a historical and critical look, we cannot reduce artistic activity to the search for abstract definitions. As a historical practice developed over thousands of years, art participates in a fundamental way in the qualitative dimension of things; and it is fundamentally related to the estimative faculty of the human being, his life experience and the axiological knowledge of reality, surpassing the simple theoretical formulations of a prescriptive nature.

Author Biography

Eduardo Cesar Maia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brasil

Eduardo Cesar Maia es profesor en el curso de Comunicación Social (CAA) y en el Programa de Posgrado en Letras (Teoría de la Literatura) de la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco. Es redactor jefe de la Revista de Estudos Universitários da UFPE y columnista del Estado da Arte, suplemento de cultura, filosofía y artes del periódico O Estado de S. Paulo. Doctor en Teoría de la Literatura [≈ PhD] por la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, con estancia de doctorado en la Universidad de Salamanca (España), habiendo desarrollado una tesis, con el apoyo de CAPES, sobre la relevancia de la tradición humanista crítica a través de las obras de José Ortega y Gasset y Álvaro Lins.

References

Kosuth, Joseph (1977). «Arte y filosofía I y II». In: La idea como arte (Gregory Battcock Ed.). Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili.

Kosuth, Joseph (2006). A arte depois da filosofia. In: Escritos de artistas. Anos 60/70, edição de Glória Ferreira. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar.
Published
2020-09-30
How to Cite
[1]
Maia, E.C. 2020. Art as art theory: critical notes on Joseph Kosuth and conceptual art in its origins. Disputatio. 9, 14 (Sep. 2020), 235-242. DOI:https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4604175.
Section
Articles and Essays

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