Among a generation of artists that emerged during the Conceptual art movement in the 1960s, Joseph Kosuth emphasized the use of language. Through text-based works and installations, Kosuth uses words in place of conventional imagery, exploring the relationship between ideas and the words used to convey them. In his One and Three series, for example, Kosuth assembles an object, a photograph of that object, and an enlarged photocopy of the dictionary definition that describes the object. Together, the three elements encourage viewers to consider how they experience the object and comprehend its representation. In other works, he does away with images and objects entirely, exploring how meaning is conveyed solely through text.

–From the Glenstone Field Guide