Break 2008

John McCracken made this sculpture, Break, in an unknown year with what looks like a highly polished monochrome material. The initial impression is this hard, sleek color block, but I wonder what it means to make a painting that’s also a sculpture. McCracken's object seems to absorb light, creating a presence that's both physical and ethereal. The color, a deep, saturated red, has a tactile quality; it invites you to touch it, to feel its smoothness, but of course, you can’t! The way it sits on that white plinth – it's almost as if it's levitating. It creates a conversation between the earthly and the otherworldly. I’m reminded of Barnett Newman’s zips and the way they create space, but here, McCracken has made the zip into the thing itself. Agnes Martin's minimalist approach also comes to mind, it's that reduction to the essential, isn't it? Art is constantly talking to itself through time.