Reflets n°33 - Peinture sur plexiglas 1/2, travail situé 1987

Editor: This is Daniel Buren's "Reflets n°33 - Peinture sur plexiglas 1/2, travail situé," from 1987. It appears to be acrylic paint on plexiglas, and is actually installed in a specific site, not just a standalone artwork. The simple stripes of green and white are visually striking, and it uses the architectural space of the room as a crucial element. What are some of the formal qualities you observe? Curator: Initially, the systematic repetition of the vertical stripes commands our attention. The interplay between the opaque colored bands and the transparent ones initiates a visual rhythm. The work interrogates the pictorial space by extending the stripes, using its simple visual language to affect the context in which it is situated. How does the frame affect your perception? Editor: I see what you mean, but I am not sure if I grasp the significance just yet! Curator: Note how the artist contrasts industrial materials, like plexiglas and acrylic, with the supposed 'purity' of minimalist form, in that the space between the stripes become intervals with calculated proportions. The effect emphasizes its dependence on location and environmental qualities. Would you say the spatial dynamic created through the light is important here? Editor: Now that I notice it, light becomes another compositional element in itself, since the shadows make each viewing experience different. I realize how light becomes integrated as part of the form and space of the installation! Curator: Indeed, through meticulous planning, the work emphasizes materiality as an element with calculated deployment that incorporates ambient lighting and perception of place to become another integral part of the piece. Editor: This dialogue really showed how to move past just “seeing” and toward real active looking! Curator: Exactly! Applying rigorous methodology to understand a formal, material system illuminates so much.