Joseph Kosuth
Clock (One and Five), English/Latin Version
(1965)
Tate
A deconstructive approach to criticism involves discovering, recognising and understanding the underlying and unspoken and implicit assumptions, ideas and frameworks of cultural forms such as works of art.
In Derrida’s book La Vérité en peinture (1978) he uses the example of Vincent van Gogh’s painting Old Shoes with Laces, arguing that we can never be sure whose shoes are depicted in the work, making a concrete analysis of the painting difficult.
Since Derrida’s assertions in the 1970s, the notion of deconstruction has been a dominating influence on many writers and conceptual artists.