Sculpture
is what you bump into when you back up to see a painting.
Attributed
to Barnett Newman (sometimes Ad Reinhardt), the above quote alludes
to the primacy of painting in modernist art history. Newman suggested
that sculpture is visually forgettable, but also that painting’s
increasingly large scale demanded more gallery space. Although
nowadays sculpture is most often bumped into in order to take a
selfie, Newman’s quote still resonates in the contemporary museum’s
placement of sculpture.
From
readymades to installations, the concept of the sculpture and its
relationship to the spaces around it shifted radically in the
twentieth century from the object on the pedestal to an engagement
with the phenomenological and material world, what Rosalind Krauss
called the “expanded field.” Many of minimalism’s forms even
literalized Newman’s criticism of physical obstruction by
enlarging sculpture to the scale of architecture.By placing works on the floor, artists like Donald Judd and Carl Andre challenged (or dared) viewers not to trip over or step onto their works. Their works created more of a physical hazard for the gallery-goer than she posed to precious objects on elevated pedestals. In short, minimalist sculpture made the viewer more aware of the physical field of the gallery and less engrossed in the visual. At least, this is what happens when installed in certain gallery spaces. In recent years I have noted the placement of minimalist sculpture in major museums following large renovations or new constructions negates these challenges to the viewer.
Text
by Annie Dell'Aria
