11st Sculpture 1963

Curator: So, here we have Michael Bolus's "11st Sculpture," created in 1963. It is, as the title suggests, a sculpture but constructed using collage techniques and featuring strong geometric lines. Editor: Right. My first thought is, it's delightfully perplexing. Like a minimalist dragon trying to take flight on a particularly still day. Is that baby blue with the red a deliberate choice or a bit of mid-century accident? Curator: Knowing the period, and the focus on geometric form, the colours were carefully considered, aligning with prevalent trends in Abstract Expressionism. What interests me is Bolus’s attempt to subvert traditional sculptural forms. This piece challenges the monumentality and permanence typically associated with sculpture by embracing ephemeral, collage-based techniques. It also has connections to street art through the idea of the deconstruction of conventional space. Editor: Well, that makes perfect sense, like a fleeting architectural marvel or perhaps a stage set for a play about existential origami. Street art – that rings true as well. Makes me wonder about impermanence. What was it like installing the piece, and were questions raised regarding how long we’d even allow a gallery to showcase graffiti in 1963? The line motif, do you think he was hinting at pathways and their limitations, even possibilities, using such reductive forms? Curator: I suppose, though I think you're ascribing it rather a figurative angle where there probably isn’t any. The work might also point to institutional anxieties surrounding the merging of high and low art. Was it challenging artistic hierarchies, and, further still, socio-economic assumptions underpinning fine art? Bolus had a clear investment in abstraction; "11st Sculpture" shows an artist dismantling expectations, using accessible materials to explore form and space in a radical, rebellious way. Editor: Dismantling expectations, I like that! It's a fine line, though, innit, dismantling or just creating delightful new ways to question things? What I still can’t decide, were those colour choices truly revolutionary? Curator: Maybe not "revolutionary", but definitely reflective of a broader cultural shift towards experimentation and reevaluation. This work encourages us to question, and to consider. Editor: A good point, and it encourages me to reflect on my slightly random thoughts too! I have really enjoyed letting this little enigma unfurl; a surprisingly provoking conversation.