An Inadequate History of Conceptual Art

Description:

This touring exhibition of video/audio work was a reaction to the global revival of conceptually-oriented art. It focused on the non-scholarly aspects of historical recollection—the subjective distortions of memory, the overdeterminations of personal involvement, and perspective and the motivations of historical returns. 

In 1998, Silvia Kolbowski sent letters to sixty artists, asking them to respond to the following statement: "Briefly describe a conceptual art work, not your own, of the period between 1965 and 1975, which you personally witnessed/experienced at the time.”

Forty artists responded and were interviewed on camera by Kolbowski, who asked the artists not to mention their own names, the names of the artists whose work is described, or the titles of the works. The projected footage featured only close-ups of the artists' hands as they described the works, and was played out of sync with the audio track. The result was a document that is both personal and anonymous, filled with omissions and embellishment. 

An opening took place Feb 15, 2002.