Untitled 1968

This untitled artwork by Edward Krasinski presents two objects sat on a black plinth, connected by a length of string. There’s a crude quality to it, a kind of directness that speaks to artmaking as an immediate, physical process. The plinth itself is painted black, a thick impasto that suggests multiple layers, or perhaps a single layer applied with real force. Look closely and you’ll see that the bottom edge is lined with a thin white border. This subtle detail brings the whole structure into focus, lifting it off the ground and into the realm of art. The metal cans, each with a nail, feel similarly contingent, caught between being readymades and something more symbolically potent. This piece reminds me a little of Franz West's work, in that both artists share an interest in the provisional and contingent nature of art. Krasinski’s work, like West’s, embraces ambiguity, inviting us to reconsider the boundaries between the ordinary and the artistic, the absurd and the profound.