manifesto for a more modern art-

pureconcept©

British contemporary art is dominated by a tiny group of the “right” people.

A surprisingly small band of talented and lucky artists in the right place at the right time.

Sometimes it seems like the fact that they went to a certain college makes their work somehow more credible. That’s got to be wrong. How is their work any more valid than yours or mine? Good luck to them anyway, they’re being creative and engaging.  But they are not the whole story.

What’s art then? It’s about two things.

The concept or idea and the execution or physical creation of the piece.

The real beauty in art for me is in the concept. The central idea behind a piece is the thing that critics, cataloguers and more casual observers strive to find but often get wrong. They impose their views above that of the artist when interpreting what the work may be about.

Once you try to turn the concept into a finished tangible work you run into lots of problems.

In fact, the concept is always diluted and demeaned by the process of making the idea physical. Up close, many pieces of great contemporary art look cheap or badly manufactured. Look at Marc Quinn’s frozen blood head then look round the back at the mess of wires and refrigeration.  Oh.. and the plug in the wall.  Or some of the sheep in formaldehyde at Damien Hirst’s “Romance in the Age of Uncertainty” show-all the tanks look like fish tanks or double glazed plastic windows and are sealed with silicone like your bath. Lots of artists don’t even make the item themselves.

So how is this manufacturing process adding anything anymore to the power of the idea?

In making the idea into a visual piece which takes up space on a gallery floor, you are destroying all the other possibilities that would have existed for it, had it not have been made. Think of how it can be better to read a book or hear a radio play and conjure up your own version of how it actually appears compared to watching a film which prescribes the director’s idea of one version of how it could look- to you.

No-the way to keep the purity and power of the concept is never to entertain the passing of the conceptual stage. The depth and breadth of an idea really emerges when the piece is effectively described to a viewer and they are then allowed to create their own version of it in their head.

Why should contemporary art work in this form? Because most modern art is usually static and fairly easy to describe, it sits in an exhibition space. It waits for you to come to see it. Art owners can say-“look-that’s mine”. You can think of almost any modern art piece and it would work even better if it had never actually been created. There would have been a more direct and exciting connection between you and the artist.

It’s easy to describe the bed or the shark. That’s why it could work even better in your head.

Many Japanese art collectors are said to believe that an artistic object becomes less exciting and valuable the more people look at it. They say that “the eye stains the object it looks upon”. I think they are right. If you make the piece less visually focused, (by making it a pure concept only) you will end up with a work that has more sustained interest and longevity.

This new approach is not designed to replace any contemporary visual based art-it’s just another (I think more interesting) way of doing it. Removing the physical aspect of the piece liberates the mind of the viewer to be more cerebral and experimental and to gain a more raw experience through interacting with the art.

Modern physical art is dead. Doing paintings or building objects

(or worse, getting others to make them for you) and putting them in galleries is over

A more modern art is the art of the pureconcept©

If I were to think of then work up an idea for a new piece and then tell you about it-that’s two of us who know about it.  If you receive the idea from me, you can do what you like with it. You can construct the object mentally or physically, or just think about it. You could tell other people the idea-but it could be even better if you kept it to yourself.

Physical presence, over exposure and over familiarity weakens and dilutes the artistic concept and intent. How many times can I see Jake and Dinos’s weird children and still get something new from them? Only once really.

Art is at Its most powerful when it doesn’t exist in any physical form

How do this more modern art work?

I work in two ways.

(1)   Producing concepts which are for public display in virtual exhibitions

(2)   Producing private concepts for individuals.

The first, the public works are arranged in galleries. The first for the Saatchi website is called "Thirty Degrees Of Fear" (a link is below). These exhibitions will change on this site as new works are added so check it out from time to time.  The full virtual exhibition is only available in my new book “doom loop” which is available from the phone number at the bottom of the page.

In terms of the private works, I normally accept commissions and create a new piece of conceptual art specifically for the buyer.  I get their name and rough location.  With that information and my thoughts I plan a new conceptual work and write a catalogue entry which describes in detail the new piece-it will then exist only as a paper document enabling the transfer of the thought from me to the commissioner. This document is the ownership of the idea, a unique conceptual piece straight from my brain. I call this pureconcept© art.

The buyer owns the pureconcept  which is presented in a variety of formats and is sent in a sealed envelope or package. No-one will see its contents other than me and them. When they get it they can open it or save it for later. Or they could save it for a long time, never open it or give it or sell it to someone else.

If you're the client, you are part of the process, part of the art.

In the end, this new approach is one which focuses on the creation of the conceptual idea and it’s subsequent passage from one person to another.  The new owner decides whether to keep it to themselves or pass on to someone else the same pleasure and mental stimulus that they received when opening the envelope and reading about the piece for the first time.

How does this work on ebay?

I will create a new piece of conceptual art for you.  This starts at the end of the auction where I will contact the top bidder to get their name and rough location.  With that information and my thoughts I will plan and create a new work, something that this information suggests to me.  After development, I will write a catalogue entry which describes in detail the new work-it will then exist only as a paper document enabling the transfer of the thought from me to you.  You will own the concept which will be sent in a sealed envelope or package. 

No-one will see its contents other than me and you. 

When you get it you can open it or save it for later.  Or you could save it for a long time, never open it or give it or sell it to someone else.  You will be part of the process, part of the art. 

This is personal conceptual art. 

pureconcept©

If you open the envelope, make sure you have mental time and space to spend a while visualising the piece and that you are in a gallery (or outdoors) walking around it. 

Think about how it would look, sound, smell.  Then think about why it might be like that and what it all means.

That’s the good bit.

As the work attracts attention , the prices should  increase and these early pieces may become more collectable and valuable.  This is a great chance for you to get in at the ground floor of what I believe is a new mode of modern art. I will only be offering a small number of opportunities per year to buy a unique custom created conceptual work.  Prices paid to me for this personal conceptual art have gone up by 1400% and several hundred people now look at my ebay auctions. 

ebay is the only place where you can buy these works currently.

There follows some extracts from my new Saatchi Gallery virtual exhibition-30 degrees of fear, to give you a small idea of what the pieces may be like-

look at this Official Saatchi Gallery link to see more of the full 30 degrees of fear exhibition:

http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/yourgallery/?artist_name=adam+fd+reeves&x=27&y=6

Warning: Because there is no physical construction, when you read and access these ideas they may be the purest, most undiluted art that you have ever received in your head.

Brace yourself for the creative blast

pureconcept© Virtual Gallery Excerpts-30 degrees of fear

6. n  6. now that’s what I call tension (2001)      

           Stainless steel, wire, rubber, marbles 

5                        40” x 60” x 44”

6                         

A metal rail of silver square edged construction is attached to the wall horizontally. From the centre of the rail, a black rubber sheet about 1/8” thick is stretched very tightly about 3 1/2ft, straight out from the wall. On top of the sheet are scattered 30 black marble type balls around 3” in diameter. Below the sheet of rubber, some thin metal legs are arranged in a complex structure which delicately but effectively keeps the tension in the sheet.

It looks impossible that such tension could be maintained by the spindly intricate legs and that at any moment the whole structure may implode. 

A “hair trigger” of metal, (about the diameter of a wire coat hanger) snakes across the floor, projecting 2’ in front of the structure. Walking close to the object occasionally causes enough vibration to cause the leg structure to collapse violently with the rubber sheet snapping shut and the balls flying dangerously around.

This always causes a moment of panic in the audience followed by laughter. The object is reset each time by the guard.

19. community of the dead and living (2003)
Wood, paper

85’ x 60’

In the Tate Modern Turbine Hall, a monstrous wooden wheel is mounted on its side and able to turn around a giant spindle . An extremely tall and long reel of paper is covered in 100 billion person shaped imprints and is wound around the spindle, resting on the base of the wooden wheel. The imprints are the smallest size they can be whilst remaining distinct and visible (25 per square centimetre).

The first 6 billion images are in green and the rest are black.

The total length of the paper roll represents time. Therefore the visible start of the paper roll represents the current year and the end of the roll represents the beginning of human life (around 50,000BC). 

The black people imprints represent dead people and the green ones live ones. 

Everyone who has ever lived is represented by a person imprint.

The roll of paper is 1612.8km long and 25m high.

30. earth confessional (2003)

brass, leather

6" x 209')

In the centre of a large field near Fenny Drayton, West Midlands (the exact geographical centre of England), a small square turfed area is enclosed by 6ft high wrought iron railings with a gate. In the centre of the grass there is a raised, round concrete dais from which emerges a snake-like tube of black leather construction standing 9 ft high. The tube is stiff but flexible and is seemingly plumbed into the ground below it.

At the top of the tube is a brass mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is lined with red velvet and there are brass rings around the whole leather tube spaced about 8" apart. An elaborate hinged cover with retaining chain can be clipped into place when the tube is not in use.

The tube itself runs down 200ft vertically below the earth and terminates in a small chamber. A brass plate is attached toward the top of the leather which gives instructions for the tube's use. The tube is flexible enough to be positioned in front of a person of any height.

The plate reads:-

“The Earth Confessional is located at the exact centre of England, and is a public facility to enable citizens to rid themselves of fears, secrets and lies. Please follow instructions for use carefully and leave it in the same condition you found it in.”

Instructions For Use

1)     Walk around for a few minutes thinking about any fears, secrets or lies that you would like to rid yourself of.

2)     Await your turn on the confessional if necessary then approach the tube

3)     Grasp tube firmly and mould into shape so that you are comfortable talking into it from a standing position

4)     Remove cover

5)     Place mouth into mouthpiece and shout out your fears etc as loud as you can (Be safe in the knowledge that no-one will hear them and any sound escaping into the area around the confessional will be blocked by the lining)

6)     Step back. Replace the cover. Your fears, secrets and lies are now safely enclosed beneath the earth. If you believe in a God, he or she will have heard them too.

The full virtual gallery of “30 degrees of fear” is only available in my well reviewed new conceptual art book “doom loop” which includes the exhibition, poems and hoax flyers

If you would like me to send you a copy priced £7.99 (on Buy It Now on ebay for full buyer protection and easy Paypal payment), or would like to talk to the artist, call the number below