Sol LeWitt (American, 1928 - ), Wall Drawing #263 (A
wall divided into sixteen equal parts with all one - two, three
and four part combinations of lines in four directions.), 1975,
black graphite on wall, dimensions variable, Whitney Museum
of American Art, NY.
LeWitt's work amounts to a plan or directions to the draftsperson
who executes the work, much as an architect presenting plans
to a builder. These directions call for dividing a wall into
sixteen equal parts with all one, two, three and four part combinations
of lines in four directions. The first row of this sixteen-square
grid contains lines in the four basic directions-vertical, horizontal,
and two diagonals- that establish a system upon which the rest
of the drawing is based. Because LeWitt does not use an intermediary
support, such as canvas or paper, in the final work, he de-emphasizes
the materiality of the aesthetic object, giving priority to
the idea behind the art work.
"In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important
aspect of the work . . . all planning and decisions are made
beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair. The
idea becomes the machine that makes the art."
Sol LeWitt: "Paragraphs on
Conceptual Art," Artforum, summer issue, 1967.
Sol LeWitt: About
the Wall Drawings. Catalogue of Pasadena Art Museum Show,
1970/1971.
Sol LeWitt: Sentences
on Conceptual Art. In: 0-9 (New York), 1969. Reprinted
in: Art-Language (England), May 1969; Art Now, vol.
3, no. 2, 1971. [Also on: Franklin
Furnace page.]
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Course
"Algorithmic Art & A.I."