Artist:
Sol LeWitt
Title:
Würfelskulptur
Year:
1993
Adress:
Hallesches Ufer 62
Extreme minimalism
Shape
The artwork consists of an open perfect cube, which is divided in multiple perfect cubes. Le Witt uses nothing but cubes; no separated lines, bowl, triangle or other.
Material
The strict and white shapes evokes me a sense of beauty and perfection.
Location
The artwork is placed along busy main streets. The square pattern also appears in the building behind it.
Impact
The impact is limited because the artwork can be seen only by driving alongside it. The drivers hardly have the opportunity to see the object, let alone to enter into a relationship with it. The art and architecture of the building behind it are clearly related. It is not clear to me social context is connected to the (sense of beauty and perfection of) the artwork. That’s why I have the feeling that the artwork lacks context and meaning.
Meaning
This artwork is minimalist carried to extremes. Erasing meanings from previous traditions and generations had gone so far that no meanings are left. What remains is an abstract object with sophisticated mathematical precision without much emotion. The artwork is important in the intellectual sense that art without meaning is possible.
Sophisticated and precise
Last I heard someone say that the melodies and rhythms of J.S. Bach are so sophisticated and precise that it evokes emotions but no images. Something like this is true with the artwork of Solomon le Witt: it is sophisticated and precise while it evokes no images. The lack of emotions in the artwork of Le Witt is the difference with the music by J.S. Bach, in my opinion.
Compared with other artworks
In the Golden Cross by Goan Lim Han (Amsterdam, picture 1, more information) the minimalism went slightly less far, not in the form, and also not in the material. The statue is standing on a roundabout so the dynamics by the lines is better reflected.
A fusion is made in the artwork by Ben Zegers (Amsterdam, picture 2, more information) between the minimal form (cube) and everyday objects (a chair and table). To me it’s difficult to combine perfection and triviality. In this case, it feels like a collision.
Arjan Veldt comments the severity of minimalism in his Jonker's Night (Amsterdam, picture 3, more information) on a humourous way. Here's a perfect cube made by an ordinary transformer-hous on a residual space in the city. A picture on the house makes this place feel like a place of gold.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com
www.art-in-berlin.de:
Sol Lewit (geb. 1928 / Hartford/USA) hat sein künstlerisches Vokabular aus einfachen geometrischen Formen entwickelt und bedient sich sowohl in seiner Malerei als auch bei seinen Skulpturen der seriellen Wiederholung bzw. sequenziellen Abwandlung der einzelnen Module. So auch bei seiner Würfelskulptur von 1993, die vor dem Familiengericht (Architekt: Oswald Mathias Ungers) steht.
Die Würfelskulptur korrespondiert als weisser Kubus mit der Geometrie der Architektur, die sich gleichfalls durch strenge geometrische Ordnungsraster auszeichnet. So ist bspw. bei der Fassadengestaltung das Quadrat ein immer wiederkehrendes Element, das LeWitt in der Gitterstruktur seiner Skulptur aufgreift.
Literatur:
Klaus Bussmann; Kasper König (Hg.): Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987, Köln 1987
Jörg Schellmann (Hg.): WallWorks, München 1999
The Museum of Modern Art (Hg.): Sol LeWitt-Structures 1962-1993, Oxford, 1993
Christina Bechtler; Charlotte Koerber (Hg.): Sol LeWitt. 100 Cubes, Stuttgart 1995
Translation:
Sol LeWitt (born 1928 / Hartford / USA) hat sein künstlerisches Vokabular aus einfachen geometric Formen entwickelt und sich sowohl operates in seiner Malerei als auch bei der messaging Sculptures seriellen Wiederholung bzw. sequenziellen Abwandlung of einzelnen Module. So auch bei seiner Würfelskulptur von 1993, which vor dem family oriented (Architect: Oswald Mathias Ungers). Steht
Which Würfelskulptur korrespondiert as weisser Cube mit der Geometrie der Architektur, die sich durch gleichfalls strict geometric Ordnungsraster auszeichnet. So ist bspw. bei der Fassadengestaltung das ein Quadrat ever wiederkehrendes Element, das in der LeWitt Gitterstruktur seiner Skulptur aufgreift.
www.wikipedia.org:
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism.
LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he preferred instead of "sculptures") but was prolific in a wide range of media including drawing, printmaking, photography, and painting. He has been the subject of hundreds of solo exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world since 1965.
LeWitt is regarded as a founder of both Minimal and Conceptual art.[3] His prolific two and three-dimensional work ranges from wall drawings (over 1200 of which have been executed) to hundreds of works on paper extending to structures in the form of towers, pyramids, geometric forms, and progressions. These works range in size from gallery-sized installations to monumental outdoor pieces. LeWitt’s first serial sculptures were created in the 1960s using the modular form of the square in arrangements of varying visual complexity. In 1979, LeWitt participated in the design for the Lucinda Childs Dance Company's piece Dance.
Shape
The artwork consists of an open perfect cube, which is divided in multiple perfect cubes. Le Witt uses nothing but cubes; no separated lines, bowl, triangle or other.
Material
The strict and white shapes evokes me a sense of beauty and perfection.
Location
The artwork is placed along busy main streets. The square pattern also appears in the building behind it.
Impact
The impact is limited because the artwork can be seen only by driving alongside it. The drivers hardly have the opportunity to see the object, let alone to enter into a relationship with it. The art and architecture of the building behind it are clearly related. It is not clear to me social context is connected to the (sense of beauty and perfection of) the artwork. That’s why I have the feeling that the artwork lacks context and meaning.
Meaning
This artwork is minimalist carried to extremes. Erasing meanings from previous traditions and generations had gone so far that no meanings are left. What remains is an abstract object with sophisticated mathematical precision without much emotion. The artwork is important in the intellectual sense that art without meaning is possible.
Sophisticated and precise
Last I heard someone say that the melodies and rhythms of J.S. Bach are so sophisticated and precise that it evokes emotions but no images. Something like this is true with the artwork of Solomon le Witt: it is sophisticated and precise while it evokes no images. The lack of emotions in the artwork of Le Witt is the difference with the music by J.S. Bach, in my opinion.
Compared with other artworks
In the Golden Cross by Goan Lim Han (Amsterdam, picture 1, more information) the minimalism went slightly less far, not in the form, and also not in the material. The statue is standing on a roundabout so the dynamics by the lines is better reflected.
A fusion is made in the artwork by Ben Zegers (Amsterdam, picture 2, more information) between the minimal form (cube) and everyday objects (a chair and table). To me it’s difficult to combine perfection and triviality. In this case, it feels like a collision.
Arjan Veldt comments the severity of minimalism in his Jonker's Night (Amsterdam, picture 3, more information) on a humourous way. Here's a perfect cube made by an ordinary transformer-hous on a residual space in the city. A picture on the house makes this place feel like a place of gold.
By Theo, www.artatsite.com
www.art-in-berlin.de:
Sol Lewit (geb. 1928 / Hartford/USA) hat sein künstlerisches Vokabular aus einfachen geometrischen Formen entwickelt und bedient sich sowohl in seiner Malerei als auch bei seinen Skulpturen der seriellen Wiederholung bzw. sequenziellen Abwandlung der einzelnen Module. So auch bei seiner Würfelskulptur von 1993, die vor dem Familiengericht (Architekt: Oswald Mathias Ungers) steht.
Die Würfelskulptur korrespondiert als weisser Kubus mit der Geometrie der Architektur, die sich gleichfalls durch strenge geometrische Ordnungsraster auszeichnet. So ist bspw. bei der Fassadengestaltung das Quadrat ein immer wiederkehrendes Element, das LeWitt in der Gitterstruktur seiner Skulptur aufgreift.
Literatur:
Klaus Bussmann; Kasper König (Hg.): Skulptur Projekte in Münster 1987, Köln 1987
Jörg Schellmann (Hg.): WallWorks, München 1999
The Museum of Modern Art (Hg.): Sol LeWitt-Structures 1962-1993, Oxford, 1993
Christina Bechtler; Charlotte Koerber (Hg.): Sol LeWitt. 100 Cubes, Stuttgart 1995
Translation:
Sol LeWitt (born 1928 / Hartford / USA) hat sein künstlerisches Vokabular aus einfachen geometric Formen entwickelt und sich sowohl operates in seiner Malerei als auch bei der messaging Sculptures seriellen Wiederholung bzw. sequenziellen Abwandlung of einzelnen Module. So auch bei seiner Würfelskulptur von 1993, which vor dem family oriented (Architect: Oswald Mathias Ungers). Steht
Which Würfelskulptur korrespondiert as weisser Cube mit der Geometrie der Architektur, die sich durch gleichfalls strict geometric Ordnungsraster auszeichnet. So ist bspw. bei der Fassadengestaltung das ein Quadrat ever wiederkehrendes Element, das in der LeWitt Gitterstruktur seiner Skulptur aufgreift.
www.wikipedia.org:
Solomon "Sol" LeWitt (September 9, 1928 – April 8, 2007) was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism.
LeWitt came to fame in the late 1960s with his wall drawings and "structures" (a term he preferred instead of "sculptures") but was prolific in a wide range of media including drawing, printmaking, photography, and painting. He has been the subject of hundreds of solo exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world since 1965.
LeWitt is regarded as a founder of both Minimal and Conceptual art.[3] His prolific two and three-dimensional work ranges from wall drawings (over 1200 of which have been executed) to hundreds of works on paper extending to structures in the form of towers, pyramids, geometric forms, and progressions. These works range in size from gallery-sized installations to monumental outdoor pieces. LeWitt’s first serial sculptures were created in the 1960s using the modular form of the square in arrangements of varying visual complexity. In 1979, LeWitt participated in the design for the Lucinda Childs Dance Company's piece Dance.