Robert Rauschenberg: The 1/4 Mile

^{Robert Rauschenberg, The 1/4 Mile, 1981-98.}

In 1961, Robert Rauschenberg said: “There is no reason not to consider the world as one gigantic painting.” Rauschenberg does just that in his monumental The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece(1981-98). Completed over a period of seventeen years and measuring nearly 1,000 feet in length, the piece incorporates an eclectic array of materials –including fabric, paint, constructions made from cardboard and scrap metal, neon, images culled from mass media sources, the artist’s own photographs, and sound recordings collected from his travels. The 1/4 Mile serves as a self-contained retrospective of Rauschenberg’s oeuvre, referencing important bodies of work such as his “White Paintings,” “Combines,” “Cardboards,” and “Gluts.” LACMA’s presentation is the first time this expansive work will be exhibited on the West Coast.

^{(Photo courtesy of and © Robert Rauschenberg Foundation.)}