Singular Forms
(Sometimes Repeated):
Art from 1951 to the Present
Introduction
During the 1960s and ’70s, as countercultural movements challenged the established frameworks of government and institutions and reevaluated race and gender relations, artists rejected the traditional categories of painting and sculpture and explored new ways to make art. This investigation resulted in the formation of a new aesthetic that sought to pare a work of art down to its essential core—be it a perfect cube, a basic, repetitive gesture, or a simple, declarative phrase. In many cases, the object of art disappeared altogether, leaving nothing more than a written account of an idea or a fleeting performance. [more]