Desk Box c. 1937

This small drawing, Desk Box, by Joseph Rothenberg is an unassuming plan on paper. It's so direct, so plainly rendered, that it reminds me of technical drawings. But this piece isn't just about measurement; it's about something else entirely. Maybe Rothenberg wasn't so concerned with a perfect box, but with the process of drafting an idea into being. I can imagine him thinking about how things fit together. The soft pencil lines and handwritten annotations make the box feel provisional, less about a final form, more about open-ended possibility. It reminds me of other artists who blur the lines between art and design, where the utility of an object meets the pleasure of its creation. I see this drawing as an invitation to think about art not as a finished product but as a place of ongoing discovery. It’s a quiet reminder that making, in any form, is a way of thinking.