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Art & Philosophy

From Conceptual Art to Social Art

Peter Benson watches this ‘art movement’ with raised eyebrows.

Conceptual art is art where the artistic aspect is considered to reside in the concept alone, not in any of its sensory qualities (if it has any). For many years now conceptual art has formed the dominant strand of contemporary art – at least according to that network of galleries, critics and collectors who decide what should be considered important among the range of current artistic production. Now, however, it’s beginning to be displaced by a new contender for our attention, which I propose to call ‘social art’. I’ll explain what I mean by this soon. First, I want to consider the general question of how specific art-forms rise to prominence.

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