Square on its tip
Art Basel starts next week, and I couldn't help but recall a work I had the chance to see there last year. The work, “Untitled” from 1948 by Carmen Herrera (image), was exhibited by Lisson Gallery.
A square standing on its tip. Dark blue with two white bars offset along the horizontal centerline of the image.
The bottom edge of the left bar and the top edge of the right bar run exactly through the center from their respective corners of the square toward the center point. There, they meet at the lower and upper tips, respectively, and appear to touch.
However, there is no clear connection between the two surfaces. Even upon close inspection, it is impossible to determine conclusively whether they touch. It is impossible to definitively classify whether white bars on a blue background or two blue geometric figures on a white background are depicted.
Regardless, although the composition appears, at first glance, remarkably minimalist—almost simplistic—it generates an almost unbearable tension.
The fact that the square is positioned on its edge lends the work a sense of instability. It seems as though the canvas could tip to one side or the other at any moment. It lacks the stability that would be present if the canvas were displayed with one side parallel to the floor. This instability is counteracted by the white bars. For the horizontal bars restore precisely that sense of balance and stability. Furthermore, it almost seems as though the bars are preventing the forces that appear to be acting outward—and which would cause the square to tip—from doing so, much like the cables of a bridge. The outward-pushing force thus concentrates on the center of the image, where the tension now arises that is needed to maintain the “static equilibrium” of the image. All the tension is concentrated at the point in the center of the image, which, as mentioned above, has its actual stability or strength called into question by the doubt as to whether the beams are really touching.
The entire cohesion of the composition rests on the hope that the beams will touch and that this small point of contact will be sufficient to maintain the tension of the outward-acting forces. It is reasonable to assume that this effect of stability could not have been achieved by a single continuous beam, since such a beam would likely tip in one direction or the other along with the square, much like a seesaw. Thus, it requires the concentration of forces at a central point, the resulting instability, and the hope for a connection between the beams to create an impression of stability and balance in the composition as a whole.