Incomplete Open Cubes (Burnt)
2010
Painted wood; burnt wood
Each cube 50x50x50cm
One of a number of works which explore the relationship between ritual and Conceptual and Minimal art, here, most especially that of Sol Lewitt and his statement, in the first ‘Sentence on Conceptual Art’ (1969) that ‘Conceptual Artists are mystics rather than rationalists.’ This new work takes Lewitt's statement as a means of reconsidering one of his most celebrated works, the serial project Incomplete Open Cubes begun in 1974. Complete open cubes were made and sections then sawn away in order to create particular works from Lewitt's series; the saw marks are clearly visible on the remaining structure. The wood taken from each sculpture was then chopped into firewood, and burned; the burnt remains was then returned to the centre of the sculpture from which it was taken, thereby emphasising the transformative and ritualistic nature of such works.
2010
Painted wood; burnt wood
Each cube 50x50x50cm
One of a number of works which explore the relationship between ritual and Conceptual and Minimal art, here, most especially that of Sol Lewitt and his statement, in the first ‘Sentence on Conceptual Art’ (1969) that ‘Conceptual Artists are mystics rather than rationalists.’ This new work takes Lewitt's statement as a means of reconsidering one of his most celebrated works, the serial project Incomplete Open Cubes begun in 1974. Complete open cubes were made and sections then sawn away in order to create particular works from Lewitt's series; the saw marks are clearly visible on the remaining structure. The wood taken from each sculpture was then chopped into firewood, and burned; the burnt remains was then returned to the centre of the sculpture from which it was taken, thereby emphasising the transformative and ritualistic nature of such works.
