Room 19 1968

Imi Knoebel’s ‘Room 19’ is a sculpture made of plywood and exhibited in a room. You might not think of it as painting, but I do. I imagine Knoebel in his studio, arranging and rearranging these pieces. The plywood is like a canvas, a raw material waiting to be transformed. The grain of the wood, the subtle variations in tone—they’re all part of the composition, like brushstrokes. It makes me think of Donald Judd, but warmer, somehow. I wonder what Knoebel was thinking as he stacked and arranged them. The placement of each block feels deliberate, yet also intuitive. I'm struck by the materiality—the weight and presence of the wood, the way it occupies the space. The texture and feel are so important. What would it be like to touch these surfaces, to feel the coolness of the wood? It's an invitation to slow down, to consider the relationship between form and space, and how they both shape our experience.