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Carl Andre, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Joseph Kosuth, Sol Lewitt, Robert Morris, Lawrence Weiner
Artist: various
Publisher: Siegelaub/ Wendler, New York, 1968
Date: 1968
Dimensions:
Book: H: 10 7/8 in. (276 mm); W: 8 3/8 in. (213 mm); Depth: 7/8 in. (23 mm).
Page: H: 10 7/8 in. (276 mm); W: 8 1/8 in. (207 mm).
Medium: Reproductions: xerox copies of a series of conceptual projects
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Text: xerox on white copy paper.
Classification: Books
Credit Line: Gift of Molly and Walter Bareiss
Object number: 1984.1305
Label Text:In the late 1960s a group of artists began exploring the idea that art is in the mind, and not simply “on the wall.” These Conceptual Artists frequently downplayed the visual aspect of art—striving instead to instill an image in the mind of the viewer. In 1968 the conceptual “Xerox Book” was created as an exhibition-as-book (i.e., the exhibition starts when you open the book and ends when you close it). Each of the seven artists had 25 pages on which to create their contribution, with the only stipulation that it must be reproducible using a Xerox machine (a new technology at the time).
By looking at the two dots and reading the definition on this page by Douglas Huebler (American, 1924–1997), the viewer pictures a specific relationship between the dots and the page. On subsequent pages the description changes (“A and B represent points located one inch behind the picture plane”), but the dots do not. Because the definition has changed, the viewer’s “image” of the relationship of the dots to the page changes. For conceptual artists, a work such as this required an actively engaged viewer to complete it.
By looking at the two dots and reading the definition on this page by Douglas Huebler (American, 1924–1997), the viewer pictures a specific relationship between the dots and the page. On subsequent pages the description changes (“A and B represent points located one inch behind the picture plane”), but the dots do not. Because the definition has changed, the viewer’s “image” of the relationship of the dots to the page changes. For conceptual artists, a work such as this required an actively engaged viewer to complete it.
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