Questions

What was the appeal of "conceptual art" that connected the "verbal concept and artistic form"?

The reading states that modern art is defined by context.  Without the safehaven of a museum to harbor these art objects, they become "vulnerable, invisible even".  Can we appreciate modern art out of context or do we need to be able to first see an object as art for it to hold artistic value?

I feel that a decent amount of modern art cannot be understand with the context of a museum, notably Duchamp's readymades.  Outside of a museum, I would not see the value of a signed toilet or a snowshovel.  However, the artistic value of these objects doesn't lie in the physical appearance but the intellectual process behind it.  The placement in a museum is the catalyst that provides the initial thinking about the object at a higher level, in terms of its intellectual merit and significance.