The Conceptional Beast and its Intention

Sheila Halligan-Waltz & Eike Waltz. the couple who presented three political art exhibitions (OUTRAGE (2004), OUTRAGE-OUTREACH (2006) and OUT (2008)), SEX & CITY (Impolitic Erotic Art), have been grappling with
Conceptional Art (see Conceptual Art) and its problem…is the extent to which conceptualism is in fact a form of deconceptualism. Is anything, when presented in a certain fashion, constitutes art, thus rendering all conventional meaning of art and artifacts meaningless?. We agree, a viewers experience has to be mentally stimulating and creatively provoking.

“In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art. The idea becomes a machine that makes the art” (Sol LeWitt).

Utility poles or telephone posts are now recognized as pure street art. Perhaps as many as 200,000,000 of these underappreciated art installations span the United States boasting retrospective Conceptualism. The Conceptional Beast receives its Intention through “five 9s” High Availability and unleashes terabits of information to a society perverted
by wireless and land line technology. “Just imagine disabling cell phone networks for a week or two. Half of the population will go insane unable to survive without our smart phones telling us what to do or how to survive” (JS Pavlat).

“The Conceptional Beast and its Intention” is all of us within. Dealing with our inner beast, the birth of our sexual instinct, creative arousal, societies excesses, our technological introverted cage mentality (nerds) and is essentially considered a historical (Conceptual) performance which exists physically only for the time while it is being performed. The performance constitutes an extensive inside/outside installation. Once the performance is over and all emotions defected, there is nothing to hang onto the wall but questionable memories which no money can buy or sell.
Since memories are so hard to please, Deconceptualism is competing for its place:
Is it what we forgot? What we like to remember? How dependent we became? A future defined by smart phone literate zombies? Is it just the ever present fear of survival?
Or is it after all intention without a concept unlocking philosophical hide and seek within its limited future.
Go on, be the tyrant of your own mind.
Sheila and Eike are artists fearless in goading viewers from complacency or from indifference to justice. They are artists not to be detoured from speaking to the issues.