“One way to act is to define a boundary and to move toward the center implied by it. I’m doing the opposite, defining a center and moving outward toward the boundaries.” Fred Sandback, 1975

A simple red elastic cord allows Fred Sandback to draw in space. Comparing a piece of sting to the line of number 2 pencil, he strives for the purest of forms, an innocent geometric shape. The present lot, Untitled, 1972 hinges out from the wall, drawing an open topped box; defining depth where there is none. Within the present lot, Sandback continues his quest to create “a strong, immediate, and beautiful situation.” (Fred Sandback, 1975) Untitled, 1972 expresses no uncertainty or hesitance, it stands with clarity, having eliminated the decorative materiality of sculpture, making space its medium. By rejecting the notion of mark making, Sandback has made the act of isolating space his final creation. The artist explains his wish to “get hold of things in the everyday way,” to approach the limitations of definite depth. For Sandback, “surfaces seem to imply that what’s interesting is either in front of them or behind them. Interiors are elusive. You can’t ever see an interior. Like eating an artichoke, you keep peeling away exteriors until there’s nothing left, looking for the essence of something.” Untitled, 1972 reveals that essence with resounding beauty and graceful specificity.