Cigarette c. 1961 - 1967

Curator: Welcome. Today, we're considering Tony Smith's sculpture, "Cigarette," likely created between 1961 and 1967. Editor: My first impression is… austere. The stark monochrome and geometric forms give it an almost industrial feel, devoid of warmth. Curator: Indeed. Smith's work is exemplary of minimalism, stripping away the extraneous to reveal essential form. Note the interplay of line and plane. The shape implies an open span and is further intensified by the black and white rendering, clarifying the angularity. Editor: But what does it signify? "Cigarette" feels like a misnomer. There’s nothing delicate or ephemeral here. Where do we locate this object in the cultural landscape of the '60s? Curator: Well, on one level, one could apply semiotics and look at the geometric structure and angles as representative of an abstracted or deconstructed item. More broadly, in that era many artists were reacting against the perceived excess of abstract expressionism, so what this may offer is pure geometry for geometry's sake. Editor: So a rejection of expressive content? The choice of black and white is key here. Without color, our focus is directed entirely to the object’s configuration. Its monumental nature, even in reproduction, is hard to dismiss. I am curious about the institutional framework around it, since it certainly commands attention, which would need to have been justified at the time. Curator: And consider the title again: is Smith deliberately subverting our expectations? Naming this stark, weighty form "Cigarette" sets up a provocative tension between the object and its label, almost daring us to find some kind of resonance or irony. The title, of course, opens possibilities regarding what "Cigarette" culture meant during this period, in terms of glamor and relaxation, perhaps contrasting this with ideas about health and consumerism, which began to grow. Editor: Yes, perhaps a comment on the hidden dangers lurking beneath a deceptively simple surface. Curator: Precisely. It is both what you see, and what you don't see. Editor: It's left me thinking about how even the simplest forms can carry a great deal of conceptual baggage. Curator: And for me, how even art from the past, seemingly purely abstract and formalist in design, carries embedded socio-cultural cues which must be unpacked if it is to be contextualized successfully.