Conceptual Art was brought into existence during the 1960s by Marcel Duchamp, (1887-1968), a French-born artist and a leader of the modern movement in art. He influenced and challenged the traditional definition of art through his unconventional approach by mixing together simple everyday objects and calling it art. Otherwise known as "ready-made art", this form has continued to be an influence even in today's world.

One of Duchamp's infamous and controversial pieces was titled 'Fountain'. It consisted of a common urinal and he signed with the name "R. Mutt".

"The most important and complex work of Duchamp's career is the unfinished The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even, sometimes known as the Large Glass. In this work of oil paint, wire, and lead foil enclosed in glass, Duchamp explored such themes as sexuality and the increasing mechanization of human life." source for the previous, see below for footnote: World Book Online Americas Edition.

source for the following: "American Art," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
"Some conceptual artists worked with industrial materials. Carl Andre employed bricks, squares of metal, and other materials that spread over the floor or ground, usually in flat, rectangular patterns as in 144 Magnesium Squares (1969, Tate Gallery, London). Explaining what he had done, Andre wrote that his work “is atheistic because it is without transcendent form, without spiritual or intellectual qualities; materialistic because it is made out of its own materials without pretension to other materials; and communistic because the form is equally accessible to all men.” Dan Flavin used fluorescent light tubes in different colors, displayed vertically or in various configurations, to transform visually the space they illuminated. These works, as a result, extend beyond the physical object into the onlooker's space, as in Monument for V. Tatlin (1969, Tate Gallery), which pays homage in its composition to the Russian constructivist sculptor Vladimir Tatlin. In some of Flavin's works, the lights flash rhythmically on and off. The work of Andre and Flavin also falls into the category of minimal art, sculpture and painting based on geometric modules or other simple units. Sculptor Donald Judd, who created elegant and austere metal boxes of polished metal and Plexiglas, was a leader of the minimal movement. "

"Conceptual art even encompassed nature and natural forces, and some artists brought art out of the gallery through what became known as earthworks or earth art. Earth art was constructed within and in harmony with the landscape and ordinarily lasted only a limited time before natural processes wore it away. One of the best-known earthworks is Spiral Jetty, created in Utah in 1970 by Robert Smithson. After having 6,000 tons of earth deposited in the Great Salt Lake, Smithson built upon this layer a graceful, narrow coil out of black rock and salt crystals. This coil or spiral jetty, which extended into the lake, was 4.6 m (15 ft) wide and 457 m (1,500 ft) long. The presence of the jetty altered the viewer's experience of the lake. Although rising water submerged the jetty soon after its completion, photographs and drawings of it remain as documentation."

I suppose one can say that conceptual art can be brought about by a 10 year old. Through a diorama or perhaps through one's parents handing this 10 year old simple objects and telling that youngster to express their feelings through such items. With objects in hand and a container of glue, I think this youngster could do a fine job. That is Conceptual Art.

To further stress how much of an influence Conceptual Art has had on present day life, all you need to do in NYC is walk through the streets and you'll find plenty of examples displayed in the streets of New York. Not just this city, but cities throughout the United States and across the world.

The following are just some of many Conceptual artists:

Mel Bochner, HanneDarboven, Agnes Denes, Jan Dibbets, Hans Haacke, On Kawara, Les Levine, Sol LeWitt, and Lawrence Weiner.

Pics and Posters to come

Sources:

"American Art," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Pamela A. Ivinski, "Duchamp, Marcel," World Book Online Americas Edition, http://www.worldbookonline.com/wbol/wbPage/na/ar/co/168120, February 6, 2002.