Open Playpen 1987

This is Robert Gober’s "Open Playpen," and I can imagine him building this like a carpenter, sawing, sanding, and painting. I wonder what it was like for him when he created it. The creamy, slightly off-white color makes me feel nostalgic, like an old photograph. But the playpen is empty, like a stage set, waiting for something or someone to arrive. It's a very minimal sculpture, but those bars have a psychological impact: keeping something in? Keeping something out? It has a kind of double-edged feeling. Gober plays with our memories and expectations, and here the material aspects are really doing the work. It relates to his broader practice of remaking familiar, domestic objects. I see his work as part of an ongoing dialogue with artists like Louise Bourgeois, who also used domestic forms to explore deep emotions. These artists invite us to bring our own experiences and memories to the work. There's no single, right answer. That's what keeps it interesting.