"Plexiglas…would open up a whole range of new possibilities. Almost more than any other material, Plexiglas lived up to Judd’s stipulation that material and color should form a single entity, for color is truly inherent in Plexiglas. It is available in an almost endless variety of factory-made colors, and can, in addition, be opaque or transparent, dull, intensely glowing or even fluorescent.”
U ntitled is a quintessential example of Donald Judd’s radically innovative sculptural practice: austere in form while aesthetically sophisticated in color, concept and spatial treatment. Abiding by strict conceptual premises articulated with a discrete vocabulary of three-dimensional forms and materials, Judd created a wealth of works from his self-imposed economy of means, defining these works as specific objects, not sculptures, which he placed directly onto the floor or the wall as seen in the present example. Flawlessly constructed from anodized aluminum and jade acrylic sheet, Untitled exquisitely fulfills Judd’s pioneering ambition to create autonomous artworks that operate entirely without reference to other pictorial worlds.
Known as Menziken boxes, Judd created these specific objects between 1987 and 1994 alongside the fabricator Menizken AG. The present work, Untitled, from 1987, is one of the earliest Menziken boxes and possesses a restrained and uniform aesthetic that juxtaposes the industrial, matte aluminum exterior surface with an internal lining of glossy and chromatically captivating dark evergreen Plexiglas. Over the course of three years, Judd oversaw the fabrication of fifteen unique Menziken boxes in this 10 by 45 by 10 inch size, further highlighting the present example as an incredibly rare work from his oeuvre. Judd described, “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).
RIGHT: Frank Stella, Benjamin Moore Paintings, 1961, Private Collection © 2021 Frank Stella / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Indeed, the green Plexiglas aligns physically with the wall surface suggesting a limitless void extending far beyond the wall almost alluding to the endless field or forest. The vertical aluminum partitions further create a dramatic play of light and shadow causing subtle tonal variations and luminosity. In exploring Untitled's ambient space, the viewer’s ever-changing position uncovers new geometries from alternate vantage points; the fall of shadow in one direction may impart subtle variations in the abyssal green tone of the reflected light emanating from the flawless Plexiglas, while the weightless hovering of the form itself amplifies the work’s serene optical effect.
Untitled embodies Judd’s interplay of color, space and material while elegantly expanding on Judd’s premise on spatial relations by asserting his genius for harnessing such complexity through the most refined means.
