M 5 1954

Josef Albers made this, M 5, with oil on board. I love how Albers uses simple lines to create an illusion of depth. It's like he's building a structure right before our eyes. The black background is so clean, it makes the lines pop. It looks like it's a set of stairs but it could also be a weird looking table. Either way, you want to know where it goes. The surface of the board is so smooth, almost machine-like, which contrasts with the handmade quality of the lines. You can see the slight imperfections in the lines that make it feel more human, more intimate. It reminds me of Sol LeWitt's wall drawings, where the idea is more important than the execution. Except here, the execution is part of the idea. It's like he's saying, "Here's a simple idea, but it's also really complicated." Albers' work always embraces ambiguity, letting us bring our own interpretations to the table.