[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER 1: We're looking at a
sculpture that, in many ways doesn't really seem to be-- SPEAKER 2: A sculpture. SPEAKER 1: Right. SPEAKER 2: It's
not free standing. SPEAKER 1: It's not. It's more like a relief. SPEAKER 2: But it's
not really a relief. SPEAKER 1: Not really,
because there's no background it's attached to. SPEAKER 2: And they're
isolated units, all the same. SPEAKER 1: That's right. This is a work by
Donald Judd, and it's a piece of minimalist sculpture,
and it was done in 1969, and it's an untitled work. He would have had the exact same
form replicated over and over again. So each one of those
boxes that you see there were not made by him, and
it was also made in a factory. So it has a kind of a
machine-made aesthetic to it. SPEAKER 2: It somehow seems
like it's made to, sort of, interact in the
space of a gallery. SPEAKER 1: Absolutely. In fact, he's very specific
in giving instructions on how to hang this, how
to attach it to the wall. That each one be
spaced 6 inches apart. And usually, the first
time it was made, it was supposed to
be evenly spaced all the way to the ceiling. So it would be somewhat
dictated by the height by the normal height
of the ceiling. Of course, that would
change depending on what space you're hanging it. SPEAKER 2: But this
one doesn't do that. SPEAKER 1: I think that's
because the photograph that you're looking
at, in particular. SPEAKER 2: It's
made of something that has a reflective surface. SPEAKER 1: High sheen to it,
the outside of it is brass and then, it's
difficult to see here, but there are plexi
kind of Windows that are the tops of
each one of these boxes. So you can see through it. And sometimes, depending
on which piece it is, they're intensely
colored like pink or kind of a yellowish color
or translucent. So it interacts with
the space and creates a kind of a shadow
and coloristic effect on the wall, the blank
wall of the gallery. SPEAKER 2: So should we
be thinking back here to sculptures made of bronze? SPEAKER 1: I think so, but
also the negation of that. One of the things that
Judd and other minimalists are trying to do are
to be of their time. So there's that whole
tradition that he's continuing of modern
art, you know, where you choose the
materials and the themes of your own time. And here, to choose
something that is brass, which can be used
in older art, but to make it look like it's sheet
metal, something that comes out of a factory. And in fact, is not made by
him, but made by other workers, is very important, and the plexi
is an altogether new material. SPEAKER 2: So it really
speaks to our factory, industrial culture. SPEAKER 1: Exactly,
and it is what it is. It doesn't disguise itself. He's very explicit
about not trying to make illusionistic art. So he doesn't want to
make a sculpture look like a person or a
space that isn't there. And so they're clearly
boxes and the plexi allows you to see that
they're not solid. So there's a clarity
and a literal quality that he wants to bring out. SPEAKER 2: And it
also reminds me of skyscraper, other
kinds of modernist forms. SPEAKER 1: Right
and does evoke that and just the sheer
replication of the same form over and over again. SPEAKER 2: Very modern. SPEAKER 1: It suggests
machine production and one thing being-- SPEAKER 2: Going shopping
and seeing everything the same in the grocery store. SPEAKER 1: Exactly. SPEAKER 2: 900 versions
of the same thing. SPEAKER 1: Right. Kind of a product-like
quality to it. It's easy to see how the
clean qualities of it, the shininess of it,
and also the plexi. Maybe at first glance,
it seems oversimplified, but on further scrutiny, there's
a lot of color and reflection and light at play. [MUSIC PLAYING]