Eva Hesse
Untitled (Rope Piece)
1970
Approaches to Minimalism varied. Eva Hesse countered the rigid prefabrication forms of Judd’s Minimalism by incorporating malleable techniques such as sewing, lacing and bandaging into her work. Instead of sleek surfaces, her Rope Piece for example takes on a different shape and different dimensions each time it is installed. The work consists of several sections of rope, which Hesse and her assistant dipped in latex, knotted and tangled, and then hung from wires attached to the ceiling.
The resulting linear web or “drawing in space” resembles a three-dimensional version of a pored painting by Jackson Pollock, and, like Pollock’s work it achieves a sense of structure despite its chaotic appearance.
While Hesse and other Post-Minimalists made artworks whose mutability challenged the idea of the art object as static and durable, the artists who came to be known as Conceptualists pushed Minimalism to its logical extreme by eliminating the art object itself. This shift away from the aesthetic object toward the pure idea was largely inspired by the growing reputation of Marcel Duchamp and his assertion that making art should emphasize mental, rather than physical activity.
