An architect doesn't go off with a shovel and dig his foundation and lay every brick. He's still an artist.
The idea becomes a machine that makes the art.
In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work
Most ideas that are successful are ludicrously simple. Successful ideas generally have the appearance of simplicity because they seem inevitable. In terms of idea the artist is free to even surprise himself. Ideas are discovered by intuition.
Artists teach critics what to think. Critics repeat what the artists teach them.
Artists are mystics rather than rationalists. They leap to conclusions that logic cannot reach.