Untitled (Venetian) 1973

Robert Rauschenberg made this ‘Untitled (Venetian)’ using found objects that he gathered, probably walking down the street or from his studio. I like to imagine Bob in his studio thinking about the poetics of this arrangement: one stick balanced on the floor with a branch and on the other side, a translucent material flowing to the floor like a waterfall. Then, nailed onto that stick, he added these geometric shapes, almost like architectural models. I guess Bob was thinking about Venice. What was he thinking? The artist is playing with gravity and materiality here; he’s got this rhythm of shapes ascending. This work reminds me of Kurt Schwitters's Merzbau constructions. There is a conversation happening between artists, across time, inspiring one another. I think that artists learn from each other and build upon the ideas of those who came before, engaging in this ongoing conversation. The work isn’t necessarily about any one thing; it’s a combination of elements and feelings.