About This Artwork

John Baldessari
American, born 1931

Baldessari Sings LeWitt, 1972

Black-and-white video, sound; 12:50 min. loop
New Media Art Study Collection, Obj: 189072

John Baldessari is widely known as a pioneer of conceptual art that playfully integrates language and image within a range of media. Intended as a tribute to Sol LeWitt, Baldessari Sings LeWitt also evokes the utopian notion—common in the late 1960s and 1970s—of the democratic potential of the video medium. Referring to the older artist’s seminal 35 Sentences on Conceptual Art (1969), Baldessari introduces his deadpan video performance with the statement, “These sentences have been hidden too long in the pages of exhibition catalogues, and perhaps by my singing them for you, it will bring [them] to a much larger public.” He proceeds to sing an a cappella version of each statement to different popular tunes. Capitalizing on the inherent awkwardness of singing such baldly academic language, Baldessari’s performative gesture wittily questions the seemingly distinct roles of art and pedagogy.