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Sixteen Isomorphs (Negative)

A work made of gelatin silver prints mounted on board.
© 2008 Mel Bochner.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver prints mounted on board.

Date:

1967

Artist:

Mel Bochner
American, born 1940

About this artwork

Since the 1960s, pioneering Conceptual artist Mel Bochner has produced a diverse and compelling body of work preoccupied with the gap between an idea and its material manifestation. By 1967 he had turned to photography to record time-based conceptual processes. In this work, the artist photographed rows of cubes from an angle and made negative prints. Bochner then cut them into quadrants and installed them in a random order. The term isomorph in the title refers to the equal areas of black and white in each image and in the composition as a whole. The final grouping of 16 Isomorphs (Negative) shows how Bochner could transform a single photograph of building blocks into a galaxy of nonexistent spaces.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Mel Bochner

Title

Sixteen Isomorphs (Negative)

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1967

Medium

Gelatin silver prints mounted on board

Dimensions

49.5 × 49.5 cm (19 5/8 × 19 9/16 in.); Installed: 226.1 × 355.6 cm (89 1/16 × 140 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mary and Leigh Block; purchased with funds provided by Focus/Infinity, Mr. and Mrs. H. George Mann, and David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg; Photography Associates Fund

Reference Number

1991.163.1-16

Copyright

© 2008 Mel Bochner.

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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