SLOW CORROSION LEADING TO A LOSS OF INHERENT DIGNITY OF THE OBJECT AT HAND

Lawrence Weiner

1985

A painted wall inscription in a domestic kitchen in which Lawrence Weiner uses language itself—rather than a made object—to name and enact the slow decay of the everyday.

Blocky hand‑painted letters in yellow and blue confront you across white tiles, their clinical, declarative tone set against stainless steel sinks, open shelving and a refrigerator so the words read like a conservation report about the room’s contents.

A signature example of Conceptual art’s dematerialization of the object, it makes language the material of sculpture and asks viewers to imagine processes and histories rather than simply look at a traditional crafted object.

Palette

Exhibitions

Sculpture from the Collection

1972

Contemporary Sculpture: Selections from the Collection of The Museu...

1979

Drawing Now: 1955–1975

1976

Contemporary Works from the Collection: American Sculpture from the...

1989