| Abstract | Concrete poetry and Conceptual art are often presented as separate or opposing
movements. Although the pairing of Concrete poetry and Conceptual art has been
disputed, this thesis argues that Concrete poetry and Conceptual art are connected
and demonstrates how these international movements, which overlapped in the
1960s, are analogous by examining previously overlooked points of convergence.
The historical framework of the research is 1953 to 1980 – from the earliest use of
the term ‘Concrete poetry’ through to a widespread return to painting and figurative
art in 1980. The research study focuses on predominantly British concrete poets,
conceptual artists, figures associated with either or both movements, and those that
denied the title of concrete poet or conceptual artist but produced work with similar
qualities to the work associated with these movements. A selection of American
practitioners has also been included due to American art and literary influences on
British practitioners at the time. These practitioners were part of a countercultural
shift in the 1960s and the social, political, cultural (and economic) contexts within
which these practitioners were working is taken into consideration when analysing
their work and activities. This thesis presents the dematerialisation of the art object
using language (in Conceptual art) and the materialisation of language (in Concrete
poetry) as complementary. In the last twenty years, there has been an increase in
the number of scholars from literary and/or artistic disciplines comparing Concrete
poetry and Conceptual art and arguing for or against a connection between them.
This research contributes to existing knowledge via an examination of the
infrastructure of the art and literary worlds in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s (in
particular, the cross-disciplinary spaces available to practitioners experimenting with
Concrete poetry and Conceptual art), analyses of interactions between poets and
artists which demonstrate that they were aware of each other and each other’s work,
ideologies and theories, and an investigation into the role of poet-artists, intermedia
or cross-disciplinary practitioners/figures, engaged with either or both movements,
who blurred the boundaries between the visual arts and poetry. Overall, connections
between Concrete poetry and (language-based) Conceptual art manifest as visual
similarities, use of and an enthusiasm for the possibilities of language, interpersonal
relationships and shared theoretical approaches, intermedia and interdisciplinary
practices, poet/artist-run and institutional spaces, shared sources of funding,
curation, collection and dissemination, and a reliance on the viewer/reader to
interpret or ‘create’ the work. |
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