Sloping Progression (Re) by Sol LeWitt
2000
Sol LeWittFacts
- Material
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Concrete blocks
- Size
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3.9 x 11.2 x 3.2 m
- Description
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At first glance, this concrete structure might look like the neatly arranged leftovers from a builder's construction site, but LeWitt's use of humble, everyday materials is a very considered work.
- Location
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Zurich, Rüschlikon
© 2024 ProLitteris Zurich
Image copyright: Stefan Altenburger
The idea is the machine that makes the work of art.
He began using concrete blocks in the 1980s, and liked the fact that each rectangle could form the building blocks that could be stacked as a repeating motif − an idea that was influenced by his interest in seriality. Despite LeWitt once declaring that "the idea is the machine that makes the work of art", he always acknowledged the collaborators who made the work.
Too large and it becomes grandiose and rhetorical. Too small, and it becomes an object.
LeWitt was interested in the scale of such outdoor works and believed there was an optimum size. "Too large", he said, "and it becomes grandiose and rhetorical. Too small, and it becomes an object." And to this degree, he didn't see the work as other artist's might. "I have always called my three dimensional work 'structures' because my thinking derives from the history of architecture, rather than that of sculpture."
