Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to be Viewed as Art

Working Drawings and Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to be Viewed as Art

Carl Andre
American, 1935–2024
Jo Baer
American, 1929–2025
Mel Bochner
American, 1940–2025
John Cage
American, 1912–1992
Dan Flavin
American, 1933–1996
Milton Glaser
American, 1929–2020
Dan Graham
American, 1942–2022
Eva Hesse
American, born Germany. 1936–1970
Alfred Jensen
American, born Guatemala. 1903–1981
Donald Judd
American, 1928–1994
Michael Kirby
American, 1931–1997
Robert Lepper
American, 1906–1991
Sol LeWitt
American, 1928–2007
Robert Mangold
American, born 1937
Robert Moskowitz
American, 1935–2024
Robert Smithson
American, 1938–1973
Kenneth Snelson
American, 1927–2016
Karlheinz Stockhausen
German, 1938–2007
James Ingo Freed
American, 1930–2005
1966
A set of ordinary three‑ring binders filled with photocopies of the artist’s studio notes and working drawings, presented so that process and documentation become the artwork itself.
At first glance it reads as a plain black office binder—textured vinyl cover, rounded corners, and a visible metal spine—its functional banality underscoring repetition and containment and inviting you to look inside.
By turning duplicated working materials into an exhibited object, Bochner helped shift attention from crafted surfaces to language, process, and documentation, a key move in the development of conceptual art.
Medium
Four identical 3-ring binders each with 100 photocopies of studio notes, working drawings, and diagrams collected by the artist
Dimensions
each: 11 3/4 x 11 1/2 x 3 1/8" (29.8 x 29.2 x 7.9 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Dr. Kuo Yu-Shou (by exchange), Jill and Peter Kraus and Committee on Drawings Fund in honor of Connie Butler
Accession
639.2013.a-d
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
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