Untitled (The Secret World of Frank Stella)

Carl Andre's writings treat language more as matter than as medium. His poems, like his sculptures, arrange distinct elements into clearly defined shapes. As such, the material properties of the word (its contour, its length, its sound) become as important, if not more important than its particular meaning. But whereas the elements of Andre's sculptures are largely interchangeable, his poems are often composed according to a systematic logic. For instance, de Kooning Gorky Pollock (lot 192) arranges references to works by each of the three artists in alphabetical order thereby giving linear visual cohesion to an otherwise chaotic jumble of conjoined words. In The Secret World of Frank Stella (lot 190), Andre uses precise repetition to create six blocks of differing textures, each of equal size. According to Andre "words have palpable tactile qualities that we feel when we speak them, when we write them, or when we hear them. This is the real subject of my poetry." (C. Andre, Cuts, Boston, 2005, p. 214).