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Donald Judd

Decent Essays

Donald Judd was one of the key minimalists living and working in New York in the 1960s. The sense of importance is ever so present when looking at the vast majority of Judd’s body of work. But even more so is the underlying almost spiritual feeling a person stumbles upon when viewing the work in the right context. The elements around the pieces are exactly as important as the perfect and seamless geometric sculptures, without its context they lose a little bit of their brilliance. A photograph can’t even begin to explain the vast sensibility in his work. As groundbreaking as his movement was, he challenged dated conventions. The conventions which stretched all the way back to the ancient Greeks, about how sculptures needed to be put on a pedestal …show more content…

The usage of the one-point perspective composition in all frames is a constant factor in every one of his films. A functional approach that becomes stylistic, recognizable and dynamic within a genre who perhaps doesn’t necessarily grab any interest by its framing, rather from the story being told. Just as Judd created limitations for himself and his art which incorporated the inclusive space, this limitation invites for even more originality and inventions within the restriction of the format and by doing so he is able to utilize the entire space that is being given, scaling down on “the sky is the limit” mentality can open up for a better and higher level of concept and ultimately a pure, immaculate finished project. Although both Judd and Andersson have carefully and beautifully mastered this simplistic treatment, their work can easily be portrayed as borderline dull and plain. Simple tools used by masters of their trade can be misunderstood by the uninitiated, as something that is too easy, when in fact, it is vastly more complicated than what meets the eye. It reminds me of a swan gliding on top of a silvery smooth pond where all you can see is the round back-sweep of water falling behind it as it moves across the water. So perfect, so ideal, so fake. It’s a magic trick for the audience, underneath the surface is two large webbed feet frantically paddling to stay afloat and move that heavy body from one place to

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