“Wrong, 1967 – John Baldessari.” WikiArt, www.wikiart.org/en/john-baldessari/wrong-1967
The photo title “Wrong” is taken by John Baldessari; it is a part of his series “Wrong” (1976). His series depicts photos that don’t follow the traditional “rules” of photography. The piece brings up feelings of irony and pokes fun at the idea of “rules” in photography. John Baldessari (1931-2020) was an American conceptual artist and one of the most influential figures of contemporary art. His works included paintings, films, installations, and photography. Baldessari began as a painter; however, he quickly became frustrated with the strict rules of traditional art. In the 1970s, Baldessari burned all his previous traditional paintings in his The Cremation Project and vowed to “not make boring art.” Afterwards, he stuck to making conceptual art. Today, Baldessari is still relevant and is known as one of the pioneers who shifted art from being about technique and aesthetic to interesting ideas and messages.
What makes an image meaningful? I believe context behind an image is what gives it meaning. Context in photography is critical, as context can shape the meaning of a photo. By understanding the time, place, subjects, etc, the audience can gain information from the photo and potentially change the meaning. In the case of this photo, it was taken in the 1970s, when John Baldessari was still teaching art students in California. During that period, studying art had stricter rules and rigidity on art quality, and strict rules defined whether a piece was good or bad.
Furthermore, the 1960s-1970s were the Conceptual Art Movement, in which artists rejected traditional art expectations and focused on ideas over objects. Baldessari was directly involved in this movement by deliberately breaking these conventions, using humor to highlight how pointless and silly such rules can be. The word WRONG under the photo challenges the rules in photography by actively defying them. By labelling his work as such, Baldessari reveals that he is self-aware and knows the picture he took is conventionally “wrong” based on expectations at that time.
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