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Lot Essay
Carl Andre's floor pieces are flat, modular and made of ordinary materials; they thus challenge all traditional preconceptions of sculpture as three-dimensional objects executed in marble or bronze. Their flatness, however, by no means diminishes their presence. As the artist states: "I don't think of them as being flat at all. I think in a sense, that each piece supports a column of air that extends to the top of the atmosphere. They're zones." (cited in Lauter, p. 17) For this reason the artist describes these works as "plains" (rather than "planes") to call attention to their role in creating a "place" that can, in fact, be entered.
Andre's floor pieces are not intended simply to be looked at but also to be walked on and experienced. Lead-Magnesium Plain characterizes work from the late 1960s when the artist was exploring different combinations of base metals and their experiential effect. "Standing in the middle of a lead square would give you a sense entirely different from standing in the middle of a square of magnesium," Andre explained (quoted in Bourdon, p. 31). In fact, lead and magnesium represent the heaviest and the lightest of the six metals used by Andre in his sprawling 37 Pieces of Work which was comprised of 36 individual square Plains (including Lead-Magnesium Plain) and installed in the artist's 1970 solo show at the Guggenheim Museum. (reproduced in Bourdon, p. 33)
Andre's floor pieces are not intended simply to be looked at but also to be walked on and experienced. Lead-Magnesium Plain characterizes work from the late 1960s when the artist was exploring different combinations of base metals and their experiential effect. "Standing in the middle of a lead square would give you a sense entirely different from standing in the middle of a square of magnesium," Andre explained (quoted in Bourdon, p. 31). In fact, lead and magnesium represent the heaviest and the lightest of the six metals used by Andre in his sprawling 37 Pieces of Work which was comprised of 36 individual square Plains (including Lead-Magnesium Plain) and installed in the artist's 1970 solo show at the Guggenheim Museum. (reproduced in Bourdon, p. 33)