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Is the fusion of art and life a radical concept? What are the consequences of living out (artistic) concepts when this might imply complete invisibility or even erasure? Or, at the total other end of the line, unerasable visibility? Are concepts and ideas more radical when they remain unexecuted: after all, doesn't the imagination far exceed reality? How does one carry out or present or represent concepts and ideas that can only be experienced when 'lived' through'? How conceptual is experience? How can public engage itself with radicality?
These questions were running through our minds when, at the beginning of 2001, we were asked by BüroFriedrich in Berlin to prepare a presentation with the text pieces by the conceptual artist Lee Lozano who died in 1999.
We conceived the presentation as 'exhibition as tool'. An exhibition grasped as the starting point for research into the similarities and differences between the artistic practices of the 1960's and today.
These questions were running through our minds when, at the beginning of 2001, we were asked by BüroFriedrich in Berlin to prepare a presentation with the text pieces by the conceptual artist Lee Lozano who died in 1999.
We conceived the presentation as 'exhibition as tool'. An exhibition grasped as the starting point for research into the similarities and differences between the artistic practices of the 1960's and today.
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Within the framework of BüroFriedrich, we interviewed artists, critics and theorists, and organised public discussions around our questions. Some of the participants and contributors had been directly involved in the art scene Lee Lorenzo had been a part of. Others related to the tradition of conceptual art and their practices address similar subjects. Yet another group uses concepts from artistic practice to bring about (political) change.
Many artists from the early days of conceptual art were acutely aware of the art system within which they wanted to operate. Lee Lozano was no exception. However, she adopted a far more personal approach than many others and allowed herself to be led by her own, personal circumstances.
Her experiments with drugs (Grass Piece and No-Grass Piece) or actions like the Boycott Women Project and the Dialogue Pieces (which were condemned as politically incorrect) reflect these other intentions. With her General Strike Piece and finally Drop-Out Piece, Lee Lozano definitively stepped out of the art world.
Many artists from the early days of conceptual art were acutely aware of the art system within which they wanted to operate. Lee Lozano was no exception. However, she adopted a far more personal approach than many others and allowed herself to be led by her own, personal circumstances.
Her experiments with drugs (Grass Piece and No-Grass Piece) or actions like the Boycott Women Project and the Dialogue Pieces (which were condemned as politically incorrect) reflect these other intentions. With her General Strike Piece and finally Drop-Out Piece, Lee Lozano definitively stepped out of the art world.
