2 X 4 Landscape 2006

Maya Lin made this landscape using 2x4 pieces of wood. It’s amazing how the simple repetition of these materials becomes a complex form. It looks like a wave, or a dune, as if the gallery floor was made of a shifting material, like sand. Think about each block of wood, you can almost feel its weight and texture. These individual pieces build up to create this massive, fluid form. Look at the way the light plays across the surface, emphasizing the texture and the subtle color variations in the wood. Up close, the individual blocks are almost like pixels, but as you step back, they create a continuous, undulating surface. It makes me think of the sculptures of Sol LeWitt, who also used simple geometric forms in repetition. But where LeWitt's work is cool and calculated, Lin's piece has an organic, almost chaotic feel to it. It’s a reminder that art doesn’t need to be complicated to be powerful.