A Moral Choice
Mike Kelley
American, 1954–2012
1978
A handwritten felt‑tip pen note on lined paper in which the artist frames a stark dilemma—two contrasting “holes” that promise either confinement or expansion—using plain language as the work itself.
Blocky, all‑caps handwriting sits high on the page with a large blank expanse beneath, so the terse phrasing reads like a staged prompt that makes the viewer stop and imagine the two possible outcomes.
Small and unadorned, it exemplifies Kelley’s use of everyday materials and terse text to unsettle narratives of innocence and agency, a strategy that helped push conceptual and performative practices in contemporary art.
Medium
Felt-tip pen on lined paper
Dimensions
8 × 6 3/8" (20.3 × 16.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the Gilbert B. and Lila Silverman Instruction Drawing Collection, Detroit
Accession
1481.2018
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
