Art as document: on conceptual art and documentation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bring the work of Seth Siegelaub (1941–2013) to the attention of document studies. Siegelaub was a pioneer of the conceptual art movement in New York in the 1960s, active as an Art Dealer, Curator and Publisher. He is remembered by art history for his exhibiti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of documentation 2018-08, Vol.74 (6), p.1149-1161
Main Author: Berryman, Jim
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Art dealers
Art exhibits
Art galleries & museums
Art history
Art works
Artistic movements
Artists
Collaboration
Conceptual art
Digital media
Documentary films
Documentation
Documents
Exhibits
Information science
Performance art
Phenomenology
Photography
Semiotics
Siegelaub, Seth
Visual artists
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Summary:Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bring the work of Seth Siegelaub (1941–2013) to the attention of document studies. Siegelaub was a pioneer of the conceptual art movement in New York in the 1960s, active as an Art Dealer, Curator and Publisher. He is remembered by art history for his exhibition catalogues, which provided a material base for intangible works of art. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a comparative approach to examine the documents of conceptual art, especially the exhibition catalogues produced by Siegelaub between 1968 and 1972. Drawing on literature from document theory and art history and criticism, it examines several of Siegelaub’s key exhibition catalogues and books. Findings Siegelaub’s theories of information have much in common with the documentalist tradition. Siegelaub’s work is important, not just for its potential to contribute to the literature of document theory. It also provides a point of dialogue between art history and information studies. Originality/value To date, the common ground between art and documentation has been explored almost exclusively from the perspective of art history. This paper is among the first to examine conceptual art from the perspective of document theory. It demonstrates potential for cross-disciplinary collaboration.
ISSN:0022-0418
1758-7379
DOI:10.1108/JD-01-2018-0010