# Is art conceptual by nature? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 27, 2019, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582 "2019-05-27T01:18:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2019, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/21 "2019-05-29T13:58:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Sorry. the buzzword trend of verbing any perfectly innocent nouns that happen to stroll by (that already have perfectly adequate verb forms) triggers my gag reflexes. Ah, now I see. It was the thoughtless verbing-where-nouning-would-do. I agree. (btw, I almost used the word “thesaurusing” in my reply just to bug you, but didn’t) ---
**Author:** ![Weedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/weedy/32/301_2.png) [@Weedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weedy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/22 "2019-05-30T05:54:39Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > What was the concept[of this picture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_selfie_copyright_dispute#/media/File:Macaca_nigra_self-portrait_large.jpg)? Yeah, I was thinking of that old _Why Cats Paint_ book. I look after 2 yr olds, and they love to paint and draw. I don’t think there are any concepts behind what they do, but I’m also not sure it’s art. There is ‘non-conceptual thinking’, which is mainly processing sensory input; I think that is what my toddlers are doing. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/23 "2019-05-30T06:04:50Z")
> [@Weedy](#): > > Yeah, I was thinking of that old _Why Cats Paint_ book. > > I look after 2 yr olds, and they love to paint and draw. I don’t think there are any concepts behind what they do, but I’m also not sure it’s art. There is ‘non-conceptual thinking’, which is mainly processing sensory input; I think that is what my toddlers are doing. I think it’s just them trying to follow what’s going on in their heads but in the loosest possible manner. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/24 "2019-05-30T08:06:01Z")
> [@digs](#): > > (Trust me, I teach a college class on Concepting. We touch on Buddhist thinking and Libertarianism. And how they can lead to mental gymnastics without a lot of enlightenment) I suggest you replace it with Galambosianism and metaphysical solipsism, _aka_ your money is meaningless, that will be $50,000. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/25 "2019-05-30T11:20:05Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I think it’s just them trying to follow what’s going on in their heads but in the loosest possible manner. I suppose some people do that a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Casparlatete](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/casparlatete/32/3377_2.png) [@Casparlatete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casparlatete)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2019, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/26 "2019-05-30T13:26:09Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I just wonder if it is truly possible to create non conceptual art, as wouldn’t the making of such art itself involve the very concept of what is “art”? Furthermore wouldn’t non conceptual itself be a concept since it is in opposition to something else? > > It just came across my mind in a Buddhist magazine about an exercise in taking photos without conceptualizing things, yet I can’t help but wonder if it is possible. I mean what moves you to take such a photo is likely some idea right? Would that make inspiration conceptual then? In\* taking photos without conceptualizing things, \* The doing of so, is in itself a ‘concept’. I once experimented by setting up a camera focused on a TV with a long time delayed shutter release and left the room, so I had no control of what image it would record and then used that image in some way to make an artwork (I called them ‘risky-pictures’). There’s an element of Dada in there. I was as far removed from the subject matter as I could be, - though in control of its construction - but, as I say, that was a concept, and there’s no way to avoid that If you have studied Buddhism you will know, ‘mind first’; everything begins with mind. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/27 "2019-08-08T19:48:39Z")
> **[How to Practice Contemplative Photography](https://www.lionsroar.com/how-to-practice-contemplative-photography/)** > > Contemplative photography is about more than taking pictures, says Andy Karr. It’s about fully connecting with the visual richness of our lives. This is the article that has to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/28 "2019-08-08T21:27:18Z")
I’m an artist. I wish someone would conceptualize and buy my shit. But really, art for arts sake. I learned that in Art college. And for Arts sake I have 2 storage sheds full of art. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2019, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/29 "2019-08-08T21:35:07Z")
And then of course there is art that is just stuff that wasn’t intended to be art, but which one guy called art because [he wanted to fuck with the definition of “art”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Readymades_of_Marcel_Duchamp). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2019, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582/30 "2019-08-09T00:30:48Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m an artist. I wish someone would conceptualize and buy my shit. [Been done](https://allthatsinteresting.com/piero-manzoni). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-art-conceptual-by-nature/834582.md?page=1)