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Wittgenstein in New York (and Elsewhere) in the 1960s: From Eduardo Paolozzi to Mel Bochner

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Abstract

Guzzetti examines known and lesser known sources of the influence of Ludwig Wittgenstein on American art in the late 1960s. He first considers how the tribute to Wittgenstein by the British artist Eduardo Paolozzi was presented in New York in the mid-1960s, and highlights concepts which would become popular among American artists. Then, the examination expands to the revival of Wittgenstein by Minimalist and Conceptual artists. Guzzetti especially focuses on Mel Bochner, who extensively quotes Wittgenstein in his fundamental article “The Serial Attitude” (1967), which marked a turning point in bridging minimalist and conceptual art. The author demonstrates that the use of Wittgenstein’s thoughts was elaborated on the companion of the Tractatus edited by Max Black, thus rediscovering a key source of the knowledge of Wittgenstein among the artists based in New York in the 1960s.

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Correspondence to Francesco Guzzetti .

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Guzzetti, F. (2019). Wittgenstein in New York (and Elsewhere) in the 1960s: From Eduardo Paolozzi to Mel Bochner. In: Mantoan, D., Perissinotto, L. (eds) Paolozzi and Wittgenstein. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15846-0_13

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