Collection
View More:
Title
Incomplete open cube 4/5
1974
Artist
Sol LeWitt
United States of America
09 Sep 1928 - 08 Apr 2007
About
The ‘Incomplete open cubes’ are a sequence of open-sided cube structures, each missing between one and nine of their sides. At once repetitive and varied, this series lays out 122 possible variations on the concept. The ‘Incomplete open cubes’ exemplify LeWitt’s conceptual practice and have been widely interpreted as embodying systematic rationality; they are based on an arithmetic concept which they then take to its logical extreme. While they are internally consistent, they also manifest an irrational, obsessive quality reflected in LeWitt’s own comment that ‘irrational thoughts should be followed absolutely and logically’. Here he presents a binary between the rational and the irrational.
Details
Date
1974
Materials used
baked enamel on aluminium
Dimensions
108.0 x 108.0 x 108.0 cm
Signature & date
Signed c. verso certificate of authenticity, black fibre-tipped pen "... /Sol LeWitt". Not dated.
Credit
Gift of the John Kaldor Family Collection 2011. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program
Location
Not on display
Accession number
346.2011
Shown in 5 exhibitions
Exhibition history
Sol LeWitt: Incomplete open cubes, John Weber Gallery, New York, 1974–1974
Journey to now: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 18 Apr 2003–06 Jul 2003
Sol LeWitt: Your mind is exactly at that line, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 20 Feb 2014–03 Aug 2014
Primary structures and speculative forms:
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 15 Oct 2016–06 Aug 2017
- Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney 13 May 2017–06 Aug 2017
Minimalism, National Gallery Singapore, Singapore, 16 Nov 2018–14 Apr 2019
Referenced in 3 publications
Bibliography
Anthony Bond, John Kaldor family collection: Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Sol LeWitt', pg.100-131, Sydney, 2011, 102, 110-11 (colour illus.).
Journey to now: John Kaldor art projects and collection, Adelaide, 2003, 20 (colour illus.), 61. illustration is an installation view
Sol LeWitt: incomplete open cubes, New York, 1974, (illus.).