A
ustere in form while aesthetically sophisticated in color, anodized aluminum and vibrant orange Plexiglas converge in Untitled to fulfill Judd’s pursuit of the autonomous artwork. Known as the Menziken boxes, Judd collaborated with the Swiss fabricator Menziken AG to produce this series of sculptures between 1987 and 1994. This union would mark the pointed and intentional absence of the artist’s hand, embracing instead the flawless production and adherent consistency capable only through manufacturing. Abiding by strict conceptual premises articulated through a discrete vocabulary of three-dimensional forms and materials, Judd created from a self-imposed economy of means that resulted in one of the most compelling sculptural practices in the history of art.
When exposed to light, subtle tonal and geometric variations awaken in Untitled, engaging in spatial relations unique to each installation. This conjured whimsy is an innate property of the Plexiglas, as Judd articulates, “The box with the Plexiglas inside is an attempt to make a definitive second surface. The inside is radically different from the outside. Whilst the outside is definite and rigorous, the inside is indefinite” (the artist in Exh. Cat., Saitama, The Museum of Modern Art (and traveling), Donald Judd 1960-1961, 1991, p. 162). The industrial orange in Untitled, therefore, creates a fantastical experiment of depth and the infinite for the viewer: color itself is rendered three-dimensional—a revelation inherent to the Menziken boxes that softens these otherwise sterile objects.
“The box with the Plexiglas inside is an attempt to make a definitive second surface. The inside is radically different from the outside. Whilst the outside is definite and rigorous, the inside is indefinite.”
Extending the scale, immediacy and unity of the painterly investigations of color initiated by artistic forbearers such as Ellsworth Kelly or Josef Albers, Judd’s Menziken boxes are the culmination of a three-decade long preoccupation with the trinity of color, material and space. Dominated by rigorous conceptual principles and articulated within a discrete vocabulary of meticulous formal claritys and unwavering commitment to the fundamental elements of art, Untitled stands as a captivating test.mes nt of Judd’s triumphant oeuvre.
