On meaning in art : the philosophy of conceptual art in relation to Joseph Kosuth and my own work

Abstract

This essay pitches the thoughts and work of 'conceptual' art practices starting in the mid 1960s, against the works of the author, taking the artist Joseph Kosuth as main focal point and backdrop to explore the philosophy and literature that Kosuth used and studied. The essay introduces the analytical philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, from which Kosuth constructed many of the ideas presented in his writing Art After Philosophy; but as Kosuth's thought changes in nature in the early 1970s the essay comes to discuss the more "continental" tradition of philosophical thought and describes the work of Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault and its relation to conceptual art. The author attempts to locate his artwork and thought in the discussion, as well as show how the study of this material has impacted his own work.