Contemporary sculpture: between revolution and tradition
In a 1967 interview, contemporary sculptor Donald Judd said, "My work is nothing like sculpture." Starting from the attributes of sculpture to better emancipate it, the work of Judd contributed to the definition, even negative of this art. The latter based his aesthetic on the inability of sculpture to be only meaningful through its pure materiality. The main problematic attribute of sculpture as practiced for millennia is its imperative of faithful representation of reality. The artist regrets that contemporary sculpture is not significant as an object, but as a representative reference. If the return to pure forms is an important point in the contemporary aesthetic transition in painting and sculpture, the other attributes which Donald Judd wishes to overcome are the question of material, and indeed, the question of technique. His works are specific three-dimensional objects in bright, industrial colors, neither the material nor the technique of which defines their appearance. However, despite the philosophical interest that Donald Judd's aesthetic theory represents, it does not universally define contemporary sculpture production. Many sculptors bring great importance to the technical work of the material.