Art After Philosophy and After: Collected Writings, 1966-1990

Joseph Kosuths writings like his installations assert that art begins where mere physicality ends. The articles statements and interviews collected here produced over a period of twenty-four years range over philosophy of language anthropology Marxism and linguistics to discover the common principles that inform representation while negotiating the endlessly complex debates about art of the last two decades. Rooted in Freud Wittgenstein and French theory Kosuths work investigates the linguistic nature of art propositions and the role of social institutional psychological and ethnological context. As a whole his writings present a new definition of an expanded role and responsibility for the artist. Joseph Kosuth first received widespread notice at the Museum of Modern Arts "Information" exhibition and the Kunsthalle Berns "When Attitudes Become Form" in the late 1960s. Today he is considered a founder of what has become known as conceptual art. His work appears in the permanent collections of many major museums. Gabriele Guercio is a doctoral candidate in art history at Yale University.