Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture

This thesis provides a historically contextual account of American conceptual art of the Sixties, examining it in relation to the concurrent counterculture. It challenges the notion that conceptual art was entirely autonomous and self-referential by identifying an interconnection between its origins...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Doniak, Katherine M.
Format: Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56333/
_version_ 1848799313770053632
author Doniak, Katherine M.
author_facet Doniak, Katherine M.
author_sort Doniak, Katherine M.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description This thesis provides a historically contextual account of American conceptual art of the Sixties, examining it in relation to the concurrent counterculture. It challenges the notion that conceptual art was entirely autonomous and self-referential by identifying an interconnection between its origins and concerns and those of this era-defining socio-cultural phenomenon. It synthesizes histories and theories of conceptual art with those of the counterculture, with particular focus on Californian conceptual practices. This includes the work of Tom Marioni and the activities of his Museum of Conceptual Art (MOCA) in San Francisco, John Baldessari, Terry Fox, Allen Ruppersberg and Barbara T. Smith. Whilst acknowledging regionally distinct aspects of West Coast conceptualism, it dismantles its artificially imposed separation from ‘orthodox’ East Coast practices, positing an expanded definition of conceptual art’s terms based on the intrinsic utopian impulses it shared with the activities of the counterculture.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T20:33:41Z
format Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
id nottingham-56333
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-14T20:33:41Z
publishDate 2019
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-563332025-02-28T14:27:06Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56333/ Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture Doniak, Katherine M. This thesis provides a historically contextual account of American conceptual art of the Sixties, examining it in relation to the concurrent counterculture. It challenges the notion that conceptual art was entirely autonomous and self-referential by identifying an interconnection between its origins and concerns and those of this era-defining socio-cultural phenomenon. It synthesizes histories and theories of conceptual art with those of the counterculture, with particular focus on Californian conceptual practices. This includes the work of Tom Marioni and the activities of his Museum of Conceptual Art (MOCA) in San Francisco, John Baldessari, Terry Fox, Allen Ruppersberg and Barbara T. Smith. Whilst acknowledging regionally distinct aspects of West Coast conceptualism, it dismantles its artificially imposed separation from ‘orthodox’ East Coast practices, positing an expanded definition of conceptual art’s terms based on the intrinsic utopian impulses it shared with the activities of the counterculture. 2019-07-22 Thesis (University of Nottingham only) NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en arr https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56333/1/Katherine%20M%20Doniak.%20Feed%20Your%20Head%20Conceptual%20Art%20and%20The%20American%20Counterculture.pdf Doniak, Katherine M. (2019) Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham. Conceptual art; Counterculture; Californian conceptualism; Museum of Conceptual Art; MOCA; John Baldessari; Robert Barry; Terry Fox; Tom Marioni; Barbara T. Smith; Allen Ruppersberg
spellingShingle Conceptual art; Counterculture; Californian conceptualism; Museum of Conceptual Art; MOCA; John Baldessari; Robert Barry; Terry Fox; Tom Marioni; Barbara T. Smith; Allen Ruppersberg
Doniak, Katherine M.
Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture
title Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture
title_full Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture
title_fullStr Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture
title_full_unstemmed Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture
title_short Feed your head: conceptual art and the American counterculture
title_sort feed your head: conceptual art and the american counterculture
topic Conceptual art; Counterculture; Californian conceptualism; Museum of Conceptual Art; MOCA; John Baldessari; Robert Barry; Terry Fox; Tom Marioni; Barbara T. Smith; Allen Ruppersberg
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/56333/