Robert Morris firmly believed in stripping his artwork down to its most fundamental features. His “Untitled” sculpture is a great example of Minimalism. Made in the years of 1965-71, the sculpture consists of four mirror plated glass and wood cubes arranged as if they had been placed in the four corners of a square.What I liked about the sculpture was the ever-changing aspect as you view the cubes from different angles. When the viewer looks at one of the cubes from a certain angle, you can see a tunnel like structure formed due to the reflection of two mirrors bouncing off one another. The idea is quite a simple one, but is very effective and allows the viewer to interact with sculpture.
The four mirror plated cubes use the gallery as well as the viewer as part of the artwork. From different angles, different parts of the gallery room, as well as the reflection of the people inside it, can be seen. In a way the objects and people in the gallery room at the time contribute to the art, otherwise it would only be four mirrored cubes; it is how the cubes reflect its surroundings which make it a truly special piece of artwork.
I think it would be interesting to see a bit more use of the reflective feature. Colour and lighting bouncing off the surfaces of the mirrors could have been used as an additional feature. It would create a more interesting visual effect and perhaps it would have allowed the viewer to interact with the sculpture more. But then again this would probably go against the idea of minimalism and keeping a piece of art down to its most essential elements.
Lighting and drama were never meant to be part of the minimalist artwork of Robert Morris. His pieces deal with the interaction between viewer and artwork. These pieces aggressively force the viewer to communicate with the work, thereby drawing us into a dialogue with it. Lighting would create a separate and unnecessary relationship. His ultimate goal is nothing but you and the work.
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