Basket, Table, Door, Window, Mirror, Rug #21 1974

Richard Artschwager made this drawing called *Basket, Table, Door, Window, Mirror, Rug #21* with pen and ink on paper. It’s all in the details here, isn’t it? A basic room, simply rendered but loaded with objects which become, well, more than just the sum of their parts. The starkness of the lines has a way of emptying the space, but it is filled by the titular objects, and by implication, with our perception. The basket, table, door, window, mirror, and rug are like characters in a play, each one performing its role in defining this setting. There is a flattening that occurs from the pen strokes, a collapsing of the volumes into the flat surface of the paper. Think about the basket or table in the center: is it a basket or a table? I think Artschwager is reminding us that art is a space where everyday objects can be reconsidered, where the familiar becomes strange and open to new interpretations.