18. Joseph Kosuth
b. 1945
North, East, South, West (From Art as Idea as Idea), 1967 ofset print on vinyl, in four parts each: 120 x 120 cm (47 1/4 x 47 1/4 in.) This work is accompanied by a certifcate of authenticity signed by the artist. Estimate £120,000-180,000 $176,000-263,000 €163,000-244,000 ‡ Provenance Sprüth Magers Lee, London Acquired from the above by the present owner, 2005
Executed in 1967, North, East, South, West belongs to the series entitled Art as Idea as Idea, in which Kosuth replaced both image and object with language. Illustrated in clear white letters on a black background, North, East, South, West presents exactly what we are seeing, thus denying other interpretations of these works. By pulling out dictionary defnitions and making them bigger, he turns the words ‘north’, ‘south’, ‘east’ and ‘west’ into objects, which invite us to inquire in what ways their meaning changes. Incorporating a verbal approach to his art practice, Kosuth began to explore the connection between language and art in order to investigate the sociopolitical and economic circumstances through which art was displayed, and question the means by which casual objects become elevated to a high art status and cultural signifcance. In this de-materialistic approach, Kosuth sees the dictionary defnition as the actual object of art. The enlarged Photostat merely functions as a tool of exhibition; as Kosuth stated, art should communicate ‘defnitions of art’, not the ‘behaviour of physical, or even mental objects’ (Joseph Kosuth, “Art afer Philosophy”, Art Afer Philosophy and Afer: Collected Writings, 1966-1990, Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1991, p.166).
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