WALTER DE MARIA
13, 14, 15 Meter Rows, 1985
42 solid stainless steel polygonal rods
Each rod: 3-1/2 inches diameter (8.9 cm), 1 meter long
The exhibition comprises two installations that are derived from the same numerological principals and are linked both physically and conceptually. A Computer Which Will Solve Every Problem in the World/3-12 Polygon — on loan from the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum in Rotterdam and on view in the United States for the first time — occupies the entire 21st Street gallery. The work consists of seventy-five solid stainless steel rods, each one measuring one meter long and having equal volume and weight. The rods are arranged on the floor in ten rows, with every successive row increasing by a meter in length. The rods become increasingly faceted with every row. Metal halide lights dramatically illuminate the space; the steel rods flicker, suggesting the latent energy contained within them. Created before computers evolved into the ubiquitous objects that they are today, the work ingenuously asks whether such a device could, in fact, solve any potential problem. De Maria’s title, in combination with the subtle variations of the piece, implies that the most profound answers may be found by phenomenological rather than technological means, that is, through our own heightened awareness.
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
stormborns
gamechangershow
2087
tangentwithtanner
gracieabrams
