Drawing for "48" Standards" 1969 - 1972

Editor: This is Mel Bochner's "Drawing for '48' Standards'" from the Harvard Art Museums. It looks like a technical drawing, almost an instruction manual, but for art. What do you see in this piece? Curator: The core here is the exploration of standardized materials. Bochner draws our attention to the ready-made, to the commercial availability of wood, and its dimensional conformity. Editor: So, he's not so much creating, as commenting on, industrial production? Curator: Exactly. It's about recognizing the art within the everyday and the societal structures that enable it. Editor: I never thought of art as having so much to do with commerce and production. Curator: It's all connected. Appreciating the process really deepens our understanding.