Seven cubes with color ink washes superimposed
1997
The work and writings of Sol LeWitt were a crucial link between Minimal and Conceptual art in the 1960s. Beginning in 1965, he had been developing his open cube structures, which stood in a dynamic relation to the surrounding architecture. Minimal art, such as that created by LeWitt, was intended to empower the viewer—to heighten our perception of space.
LeWitt suggested in his writings that the artistic idea should be viewed as primary, and the material translation of that idea as secondary. This principle became a foundation for Conceptual art. His wall drawings, first implemented in 1968, were an outcome of this radical approach to “artistic production.” He created a set of rules for the execution of a drawing, which could then be implemented by a skilled installation team. The drawing here was conceived by the artist for the Seattle Art Museum in 1997. The seven cubes, which are adjusted in height and width according to the scale of the wall, appear weightless, hovering in mid-air. Despite the repetition, each elongated cube appears unique due to the use of different colors.
LeWitt’s work rhymes with a number of installations in the Olympic Sculpture Park by artists of the same generation—Richard Serra’s Wake (seen from the pavilion) and Tony Smith’s Stinger, installed in the grove, near the railway line, for example. We are meant to experience the physicality of weight and scale as we walk through or around these installations, which become environments unto themselves.
India ink washes, installation
6 1/8 × 34 3/4 in. (15.6 × 88.3cm)
Gift of the artist
98.4.1
