1. F

red

Sand

back

, "R

emar

ks o

n m

y

Scul

ptur

e 19

66--

1986

," F

red

Sand

back

Scul

ptur

e 19

66-1

986,

(M

annh

eim

:

Kun

stha

lle,

1986

), p

. 12

.

2. I

bid

.

3. I

bid.

, pp

. 12

-13.

4. I

bid.

, p

. 13

.

5. S

andb

ack

and

a fr

iend

coi

ned

the

term

to d

efin

e sp

ace

that

was

"lit

eral

, fl

at­

foot

ed a

nd e

very

day.

The

ide

a w

as t

o ha

ve

the

wor

k ri

ght

ther

e al

ong

with

eve

ryth

ing

else

in

the

wor

ld,

not

up o

n a

spat

ial

pede

stal

. T

he t

erm

als

o in

volv

ed t

he i

dea

of u

tility

-tha

t a

scul

ptur

e w

as t

here

to

be N

ote

s activ

ely

enga

ged,

and

it h

ad u

topi

an

glim

mer

ings

of

art

and

life

happ

ily

coha

bita

ting.

" (I

bid)

.

6. F

red

Sand

back

, qu

oted

in

74 F

ront

Stre

et:

The

Fre

d Sa

ndba

ck M

useu

m,

Win

chen

don,

Mas

sach

uset

ts (

New

Yor

k:

Dia

Art

Fou

ndat

ion

, 19

82),

p. 4

.

7. W

hile

a s

tude

nt a

t Y

ale

Scho

ol o

f A

rt

and

Arc

hite

ctur

e,

in 1

967

Sand

back

too

k

cour

ses

from

bot

h R

ober

t M

orri

s an

d

Don

ald

Judd

.

8. F

red

Sand

back

, qu

oted

in

74 F

ront

Stre

et,

p. 4

.

9. I

bid

.

Sel

ecte

d Bib

liog

rap

hy

Fre

d Sa

ndba

ck (

Zur

ich:

Kun

stha

us,

1985

).

Fre

d Sa

ndba

ck:

Scul

ptur

e 19

66-1

986

Fre

d Sa

ndba

ck:

Dia

gona

l C

onst

ruct

ion/

(M

annh

eim

: K

unst

halle

, 19

86).

Bro

ken

Lin

es.

Skul

ptur

en u

nd

Fre

d Sa

ndba

ck V

erti

cal

Con

stru

ctio

ns

Zei

chnu

ngen

(H

anno

ver:

Kes

tner

-(M

i.ins

ter:

Wes

tfal

isch

er K

unst

vere

in,

Ges

ells

chaf

t, 19

87).

19

87).

Fre

d Sa

ndba

ck S

culp

ture

(N

ew H

aven

T

he A

rt o

f F

red

Sand

back

: A

Sur

vey

and

Hou

ston

: Yal

e U

nive

rsity

Art

Gal

lery

(K

rann

ert,

Illin

ois:

Kra

nner

t A

rt M

useu

m,

and

Con

tem

pora

ry

Art

s M

useu

m,

1991

).

1985

).

11

l. U

ntit

led

1992

Acr

ylic

yar

n (t

erra

cotta

)

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

2.

Unt

itle

d 19

77/1

996

Acr

ylic

yar

n (l

ight

blu

e)

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

3.

Unt

itle

d 19

96

Six-

part

ver

tical

con

stru

ctio

n

Acr

ylic

yar

n (w

hite

)

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

4.

Unt

itle

d 19

96

Sit

e Map

and

Ch

eckl

ist

31 J

5

4

2 --

10

I

8 7

I 6

9

7.

Unt

itle

d 19

96

Bas

rel

ief

Acr

ylic

hou

sepa

int

on w

ood

pane

l

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

8.

Unt

itle

d 19

92/9

6

Tw

o-pa

rt v

ertic

al c

onst

ruct

ion

Acr

ylic

yar

n (p

ink)

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

9.

Unt

itle

d, d

iago

nal

(one

off

our)

1970

/96

Fred

San

dbac

k w

as b

orn

in B

ronx

ville

, N

ew Y

ork,

in

1943

. Aft

er s

tudy

ing

philo

soph

y at

I

Bas

rel

ief,

dip

tych

Yal

e C

olle

ge,

he e

nter

ed t

he s

culp

ture

pro

gram

at Y

ale

Uni

vers

ity S

choo

l of

Art

and

A

cryl

ic h

ouse

pain

t on

woo

d pa

nel

Acr

ylic

yar

n (c

ardi

nal

red)

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

JO.

Unt

itle

d 19

77

Arc

hite

ctur

e, r

ecei

ving

a B

.F.A

., th

en,

in 1

969,

an

M.F

.A ..

Sin

ce t

he l

ate

sixt

ies,

Sand

back

has

exh

ibite

d w

idel

y, b

oth

in th

e U

nite

d St

ates

and

abr

oad.

Dia

Cen

ter

for

the

Art

s ha

s m

ore

than

for

ty w

orks

by

Sand

back

in

its c

olle

ctio

n.

Supp

ort

for

this

exh

ibiti

on h

as b

een

prov

ided

by

the

mem

bers

of

the

Dia

Art

Cou

ncil,

the

maj

or a

nnua

l su

ppor

t gr

oup

of D

ia C

ente

r fo

r th

e A

rts.

Mar

k T

aylo

r w

ill l

ectu

re o

n Sc

ulpt

ure

on T

hurs

day,

Apr

il 3,

199

7 at

6:3

0 pm

at D

ia.

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

5.

Unt

itle

d 19

77

Four

-par

t ve

rtic

al c

onst

ruct

ion

Acr

ylic

yar

n (b

lack

)

Col

lect

ion

Dia

Cen

ter

for

the

Art

s

6.

Unt

itle

d 19

96

Acr

ylic

yar

n (l

ight

bro

wn,

dar

k gr

ay)

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

Tw

o-pa

rt v

ertic

al c

onst

ruct

ion

Acr

ylic

yar

n (b

lack

)

Col

lect

ion

Dia

Cen

ter

for

the

Art

s

11.

Unt

itle

d 19

96

Bas

rel

ief,

dip

tych

Acr

ylic

hou

sepa

int

on w

ood

pane

l

Col

lect

ion

of th

e ar

tist

FR

ED

S

AN

DB

AC

K

Scul

ptur

e

( )

~ u >, ~ u 0 0 6:

,..:

r- ~ ii ',:

~

(

Sep

tem

ber

12, 1

996-

Jun

e 29,

1997

548

Wes

t 22n

d S

tree

t, N

ew Y

ork

Cit

y

FR

ED

S

AN

DB

AC

K

Scul

ptur

e

"The

fir

st s

culp

ture

I m

ade

with

a p

iece

of

stri

ng a

nd a

litt

le w

ire

was

the

out

line

of a

rect

angu

lar

solid

.. .l

ying

on

the

floo

r. I

t w

as a

cas

ual

act,

but

it se

emed

to

open

up

a lo

t of

poss

ibili

ties

for

me,

" Fr

ed S

andb

ack

wro

te i

n 19

86, l

ooki

ng b

ack

over

tw

enty

yea

rs o

f

activ

ity t

o a

sem

inal

scu

lptu

re h

e ha

d ex

ecut

ed i

n 19

66.1

The

key

im

plic

atio

ns o

f th

at

dete

rmin

ing

impu

lse

rem

ain

at th

e he

art

of h

is p

ract

ice

toda

y. F

or, i

n w

antin

g to

cre

ate

scul

ptur

e th

at d

id n

ot h

ave

an i

nsid

e, h

e fo

und

thro

ugh

his

seem

ingl

y "c

asua

l ac

t" t

he

mea

ns w

here

by h

e "c

ould

ass

ert

a ce

rtai

n pl

ace

or v

olum

e in

its

full

mat

eria

lity

with

out

occu

pyin

g an

d ob

scur

ing

it."2

For

thre

e de

cade

s, S

andb

ack

has

purs

ued

thes

e go

vern

ing

insi

ghts

with

rem

arka

ble

cons

iste

ncy

and

inve

ntiv

enes

s, c

reat

ing

a bo

dy o

f w

ork

that

is

info

rmed

by

a si

gnat

ure

styl

e an

d ye

t, a

s a

resu

lt of

the

clos

e in

terd

epen

denc

e of

eac

h w

ork

with

the

arc

hite

ctur

al

site

in

whi

ch i

t is

real

ized

, ev

er d

iffe

rent

in

its m

anif

esta

tions

. Arg

uabl

y st

ill th

e be

st

com

men

tato

r on

his

wor

k, t

he a

rtis

t ha

s el

ucid

ated

his

abi

ding

wis

h "t

o be

in

som

e so

rt o

f

cons

titut

ing

mat

eria

l re

latio

nshi

p w

ith m

y en

viro

nmen

t " in

lim

pid

fort

hrig

ht t

erm

s: "

My

feel

ing

pers

ists

," h

e av

owed

, in

that

sam

e ar

ticle

fro

m 1

986,

"th

at a

ll m

y sc

ulpt

ure

is p

art

of a

con

tinui

ng a

ttitu

de a

nd r

elat

ions

hip

to t

hing

s ....

The

scu

lptu

res

addr

ess

them

selv

es t

o

the

part

icul

ar s

pace

and

tim

e th

at t

hey'

re i

n, b

ut i

t may

be

that

the

mor

e co

mpl

ete

situ

atio

n I'm

aft

er i

s on

ly c

onst

ruct

ed i

n tim

e sl

owly

, w

ith t

he i

ndiv

idua

l sc

ulpt

ures

as

its

cons

titue

nt p

arts

."3

Sand

back

has

sea

mle

ssly

int

egra

ted

olde

r w

ith n

ewer

pie

ces

for

his

odys

sey

thro

ugh

Dia

's

seco

nd f

loor

gal

lery

. H

e or

ient

s an

d gr

ound

s th

e vi

ewer

in

a pa

rtic

ular

pla

ce, a

spe

cifi

c

situ

atio

n, b

y m

eans

of

a st

ring

ent

sele

ctio

n fr

om h

is d

elib

erat

ely

circ

umsc

ribe

d le

xico

n­

each

scu

lptu

re n

ewly

par

sed

for

the

site

. "I

don'

t fe

el t

hat o

nce

a pi

ece

is m

ade

, the

n it

' s

done

with

," h

e ex

plai

ned.

"I

cont

inue

to

wor

k w

ith o

lder

sch

emat

a an

d fo

rmat

s, a

nd o

ften

begi

n to

get

wha

t I

wan

t ou

t of

them

onl

y af

ter

man

y re

wor

king

s. T

houg

h th

e sa

me

subs

truc

ture

may

be

used

man

y tim

es,

it ap

pear

s ea

ch t

ime

in a

new

lig

ht.

It i

s th

e

mea

sure

of

the

rela

tive

succ

ess

of a

pie

ce,

not

nece

ssar

ily t

hat

a ne

w s

truc

ture

em

erge

s,

but

that

a f

amili

ar o

ne a

ttain

s, i

n its

pre

sent

man

ifes

tatio

n, a

par

ticul

ar v

ibra

ncy

or

actu

ality

.''4

The

cha

ract

er o

f an

y pa

rtic

ular

wor

k is

rel

ativ

e to

its

site

, th

e pr

opor

tions

and

for

ms

subt

ly

calib

rate

d in

res

pons

e to

the

arch

itect

onic

s of

the

area

eac

h in

habi

ts.

Bot

h th

e ac

tual

mea

sure

men

ts a

nd t

he t

one

or h

ue o

f th

e ya

m m

ay b

e ad

apte

d or

alte

red

as t

he a

rtis

t

k

\

~-

intu

itive

ly a

djus

ts a

wor

k w

ith e

ach

new

pre

sent

atio

n, t

o ea

ch n

ew l

ocat

ion

. In

thes

e

scul

ptur

es,

spac

e ta

kes

on n

ot o

nly

defi

nitio

n bu

t an

inc

orpo

real

pal

pabi

lity

, oft

en t

o

the

poin

t w

here

the

spe

ctat

or c

once

ntra

tes

less

on

the

edge

s , o

n th

e ya

m d

emar

catin

g

the

form

s, t

han

on th

e pl

anar

or

volu

met

ric

com

pone

nts

cont

aine

d w

ithin

. W

heth

er

tran

spar

ent

geom

etri

es o

r si

mpl

e lin

ear

traj

ecto

ries

, Sa

ndba

ck's

sc

ulpt

ures

une

quiv

ocal

ly

occu

py t

he s

ame

phys

ical

site

as

the

view

er.

Inha

bitin

g w

hat

the

artis

t ha

s du

bbed

"ped

estr

ian

spac

e"-t

he

ordi

nary

mat

ter-

of-f

act

spac

e co

exte

nsiv

e w

ith t

hat o

f th

e vi

ewer

and

of th

e si

te-t

hey

reve

al t

hem

selv

es o

ver

time,

fro

m d

iffe

rent

van

tage

s, a

nd a

ccor

ding

to d

iffe

rent

per

spec

tives

.5 T

he a

ppre

hens

ion

of h

is w

ork

thus

inv

olve

s a

proc

ess

of b

odily

base

d vi

ewin

g, a

phe

nom

enol

ogic

al e

xper

ienc

ing

of e

ach

piec

e in

situ

. Yet

San

dbac

k ha

s

been

car

eful

to

dist

ingu

ish

his

scul

ptur

e fr

om c

erta

in k

inds

of

inst

alla

tion

prac

tices

, m

any

of w

hich

als

o ev

olve

d fr

om M

inim

alis

t pr

ecep

ts. H

is w

ork

is n

ever

env

iron

men

tal,

if th

at

impl

ies

disr

egar

ding

the

con

text

. O

n th

e co

ntra

ry,

as h

e st

ates

: "It

inc

orpo

rate

s sp

ecif

ic

part

s of

the

envi

ronm

ent,

but

it's

alw

ays

coex

iste

nt w

ith t

hat

envi

ronm

ent,

as o

ppos

ed t

o

over

whe

lmin

g or

des

troy

ing

that

env

iron

men

t in

fav

or o

f a

diff

eren

t on

e.''

6

Bur

geon

ing

duri

ng t

he h

eyda

y of

Min

imal

ism

, Sa

ndba

ck's

w

ork

has

dist

ingu

ishe

d an

d

diff

eren

tiate

d its

elf

from

tha

t of

his

imm

edia

te f

orbe

ars

by h

is e

sche

wal

of

the

redu

ctiv

ely

liter

al a

nd o

f th

e co

ncre

te a

s its

pri

mar

y m

ode

of b

eing

. 7 H

e ex

plor

es m

ater

ial

rela

tions

hips

via

the

inco

rpor

eal

rath

er t

han

thro

ugh

phys

ical

mat

ter-

via

the

inte

rpla

y of

vac

ancy

and

volu

me-

whi

le

reco

gniz

ing

that

the

illus

ory

and

the

fact

ual

are

inex

tric

ably

int

ertw

ined

.

"Fac

t an

d ill

usio

n ar

e eq

uiva

lent

s,"

he

asse

rts:

''T

ryin

g to

wee

d on

e ou

t in

fav

or o

f th

e

othe

r is

dea

ling

with

an

inco

mpl

ete

situ

atio

n.''

8 E

labo

ratin

g on

this

, he

stre

ssed

, "I

n no

way

is

my

wor

k ill

usio

nist

ic. I

llusi

onis

tic a

rt r

efer

s yo

u aw

ay f

rom

its

fac

tual

exi

sten

ce

tow

ards

som

ethi

ng e

lse.

My

wor

k is

ful

l of

illu

sion

s , b

ut t

hey

don'

t re

fer

to a

nyth

ing.

"9

In c

hoos

ing

from

his

rep

erto

ire

thos

e th

ree-

dim

ensi

onal

w

orks

to

be i

nclu

ded

in th

is

exhi

bitio

n, S

andb

ack

elim

inat

ed e

arly

pie

ces

whi

ch u

tiliz

e m

etal

rod

s or

wir

e , fo

cusi

ng

inst

ead

on h

is n

ow p

refe

rred

med

ium

, acr

ylic

yam

. Whi

le f

or h

im y

am i

n its

elf

carr

ies

no

sign

ific

ant

conn

otat

ions

, its

slig

htly

fuz

zy, s

oft c

onto

urs

conj

ure

a le

ss c

risp

, le

ss r

igid

lin

e

than

tha

t pr

oduc

ed b

y m

etal

, jus

t as

its

mat

te s

urfa

ces

abso

rb r

athe

r th

an r

efle

ct l

ight

.

Tak

en t

oget

her

thes

e qu

aliti

es p

erm

it th

e pi

eces

mad

e fr

om y

am t

o co

exis

t m

ore

subt

ly

with

the

ir a

mbi

ence

tha

n di

d th

eir

pred

ece

ssor

s. T

he a

rtis

t al

so e

xclu

ded

from

thi

s

sele

ctio

n w

orks

em

ploy

ing

mul

ticol

ored

lin

es o

f th

e ki

nd t

hat h

ad p

reoc

cupi

ed h

im d

urin

g

the

mid

-eig

htie

s, w

orks

whi

ch f

orge

d a

high

ly d

ynam

ic r

elat

ions

hip

with

the

ir m

ilieu

x.

Into

thi

s fi

nely

wro

ught

mix

, he

has

intr

oduc

ed a

n en

tirel

y ne

w b

ody

of w

ork.

Com

pose

d so

met

imes

of

one,

som

etim

es t

wo

pane

ls,

thes

e sm

all,

pain

ted,

woo

den

wor

ks s

eem

to

assu

me

an i

dent

ity b

y dr

awin

g on

his

pri

ntm

akin

g pr

actic

es r

athe

r

than

on

his

thre

e-di

men

sion

al

scul

ptur

e. C

ompa

red

both

with

his

ow

n pl

astic

wor

k as

wel

l as

with

pri

nts

mad

e by

his

con

tem

pora

ries

, Sa

ndba

ck's

gr

aphi

c w

ork

is

rem

arka

ble

for

the

atte

ntio

n he

pay

s to

the

mat

eria

l pr

oces

s by

mea

ns o

f w

hich

eac

h

prin

t is

gen

erat

ed. T

hese

rel

iefs

sim

ilarl

y ev

oke

thei

r or

igin

s, t

hrou

gh s

tres

sing

bot

h

thei

r ph

ysic

ality

and

the

ir s

urfa

ce t

extu

res.

By

cont

rast

, th

ey a

re f

unda

men

tally

diff

eren

t fr

om h

is p

revi

ous

scul

ptur

e in

that

lin

e is

now

con

jure

d by

dra

win

g in

nega

tive-

by

elim

inat

ion

. Whe

ther

pri

ncip

ally

sha

dow

or

tone

, it

appe

ars

as a

n

abse

nce

as d

istin

ct f

rom

an

edge

or

linea

r tr

ajec

tory

. Alth

ough

qui

te s

mal

l in

siz

e,

thes

e re

liefs

hav

e a

dece

ptiv

ely

ambi

guou

s sc

ale,

lar

gely

bec

ause

in

cros

s-se

ctio

n th

e

dim

ensi

on o

f an

y si

ngle

lin

e is

roug

hly

com

men

sura

te w

ith t

hat

of a

ny d

raw

n,

near

by,

in y

am. T

he r

elie

fs,

ther

efor

e, a

ppea

r to

be

frag

men

ts o

f so

met

hing

vas

t­

segm

ents

fro

m a

larg

er c

onte

xt,

yet ,

at t

he s

ame

time,

min

iatu

re o

bjec

ts.

Thr

ough

the

int

rodu

ctio

n of

the

se n

ew s

culp

ture

s, S

andb

ack

has

grea

tly e

nric

hed

and

com

plic

ated

the

lan

guag

e of

thi

s ex

hibi

tion

. With

in a

mat

rix

that

enc

ompa

sses

the

stri

ctly

lin

ear

alon

gsid

e pl

anar

and

thre

e-di

men

sion

al

form

s, f

ree-

stan

ding

and

wal

l­

base

d sc

ulpt

ures

, to

geth

er w

ith h

ybri

ds t

hat

stra

ddle

the

se t

wo

zone

s, h

e ha

s

inco

rpor

ated

a b

ody

of w

ork

whi

ch e

xist

s on

and

in

rela

tion

to i

ts s

uppo

rtin

g pl

anar

surf

ace

and

yet

exte

nds

far

beyo

nd i

t int

o th

e su

rrou

ndin

g sp

ace.

Fac

t an

d ill

usio

n

have

bee

n ne

wly

int

erw

oven

, th

eir

inte

rdep

ende

nce

reve

aled

in

unex

pect

ed w

ays.

Mor

eove

r, b

y re

conf

igur

ing

once

mor

e th

e re

latio

nshi

p be

twee

n th

e em

pty

and

the

subs

tant

ive

, San

dbac

k ha

s cr

eate

d a

spac

e th

at h

as a

who

lly d

iffe

rent

sen

se o

f

corp

orea

lity

to i

t fro

m a

nyth

ing

foun

d hi

ther

to i

n hi

s ar

t . In

the

se r

elie

fs,

he

pers

uade

s us

that

the

app

ariti

on o

f sp

ace

deri

ves

not

from

the

lin

ear

nega

tive

, but

from

the

phy

sica

l pl

ane

betw

een

thes

e ga

ps. G

iven

tha

t th

ese

linea

r tr

ajec

tori

es d

o

not

inha

bit

a si

ngle

pla

ne b

ut o

verl

ap,

and

henc

e ex

ist

in d

epth

, sp

ace

for

the

firs

t

time

in S

andb

ack'

s a

rt s

eem

s to

hav

e ne

ither

bou

ndar

ies

nor

limits

.

L.C

.