What is instruction based art?
Instruction based art is the process of generating instructions for others to follow though the process of different types of activities and processes so that the vision of the artist is developed through other people. The piece can be half set up for people to complete it how they interpret each instruction and the completed piece is still the artists work as the initial idea was theirs and the people following the instructions are part of the piece, however each different participants choices influences the final piece as some people might follow each instruction differently than others.
A simple idea can be a work of art, and this is show through instruction based art, as the idea of the artist is completed through other people, wether the people participating are skilful or not. Art isn't only about skill, it's an initial idea that gets developed further and further as you continue following the idea, and as you go along more ideas will sprout from it creating a final piece. Wether you do works of art shouldn't be something restricting you from creating art, it's all about developing an idea and going with your instincts. Some artists don't do the work themselves, for example, when they are creating a big exhibition they get construction workers to help them finish the piece with the artist's plans and ideas, however, although the artist isn't finalising the piece, it is still his work of art as it was his idea to create an exhibition and the workers followed the blueprints and in a way they were part of the art piece. Same thing applies for photography. The photographer does not have to be the one pressing the shutter and taking the photograph, as long as it is the photographers idea, location, framing and objects in the image, it is still his work, as he planned everything but only got someone to help him complete his idea.
A simple idea can be a work of art, and this is show through instruction based art, as the idea of the artist is completed through other people, wether the people participating are skilful or not. Art isn't only about skill, it's an initial idea that gets developed further and further as you continue following the idea, and as you go along more ideas will sprout from it creating a final piece. Wether you do works of art shouldn't be something restricting you from creating art, it's all about developing an idea and going with your instincts. Some artists don't do the work themselves, for example, when they are creating a big exhibition they get construction workers to help them finish the piece with the artist's plans and ideas, however, although the artist isn't finalising the piece, it is still his work of art as it was his idea to create an exhibition and the workers followed the blueprints and in a way they were part of the art piece. Same thing applies for photography. The photographer does not have to be the one pressing the shutter and taking the photograph, as long as it is the photographers idea, location, framing and objects in the image, it is still his work, as he planned everything but only got someone to help him complete his idea.
John Baldessari.
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John Baldessari is a famous contemporary artist. He is sometimes referred to as father of conceptual art. He sometimes uses photography in his work, often images that he has found and changed in some way. He speaks of one of his qualities being the "elusive quality of trying to get something right, so you keep trying" and that's his perception of art
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My attempt at Instruction based photography.
After looking into instruction based art in our lesson we were told to attempt a form of instruction based photography in pairs. We each wrote two quotes, ideas, words or instructions, on a note and from those initial ideas we then had to take one photo that correlates to the instruction, and it was different for everyone else. If you gave the instruction, your partner might not take the photo as you would imagine because they are following the instruction as they think makes sense and is correct, and that is what makes instruction based art interesting.
Response to John Baldessari - Instruction Based Art.
Out of all the images I took, I really like how this one came out in comparison to the rest as there is an exact replica of the building and it's surroundings on the floor but not through editing, just natural reflections. The angle the image was taken from, along with a few others, isn't an average or typical angle that an everyday picture would be taken from, I had to get on the floor to be able to get the angle in which the mirrored reflection of the building would show.
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Although the camera being unfocused making it difficult to understand what is being seen on the image makes the picture itself quite interesting, I think in this case it can also be a negative. The camera not being focused there isn't a point of interest, and because the picture doesn't have any objects or anything that stands out it makes it slightly boring, the only thing that is different is the colours.
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