Indelible (Runt) 2006

This is one of Rauschenberg's, what he called, "combines," and it's a wild mix of painting, collage, and found objects. The way he layers images and words, it’s like he's trying to capture the chaos and energy of the world around him. I'm drawn to the physicality of this piece. You can see the traces of his process, the drips, the rough edges, the way he’s pieced things together. The color feels like it's been added almost as an afterthought. Take those hand-painted banners down the side, full of words. The words are aspirational, but painted in simple, almost crude letters. Rauschenberg reminds me a little of Kurt Schwitters, another artist who embraced the messiness of everyday life. Both of them showed that art could be found in the most unexpected places, and that anything could be art. For Rauschenberg, meaning isn't fixed. It's something that emerges from the process of making, from the interplay of materials, images, and ideas.