Tony Smith at Matthew Marks is the Daily Pic by Blake Gopnik
The Daily Pic: Tony Smith made a monument that's so pure, it's barely there.
(© Tony Smith Estate / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / Image courtesy Tony Smith Estate and Matthew Marks Gallery)
Tony Smith’s “Source” reaches toward the ceiling at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York. It’s a recent realization of a piece conceived by Smith in 1967, and displayed at the following year’s Documenta festival in Germany. Despite its bulk, my favorite thing about “Source” is that it can seem size-less: It is so much about the set of rules that dictate its shape that it would be the same piece as a desktop maquette or filling a skyscraper’s plaza. “Source” ends up feeling like an essentially virtual, Platonic, immaterial object. Even when you know it’s right before you, it could as easily be CGI. That makes it feel as much 2012 as 1967.
For a full visual survey of past Daily Pics visit blakegopnik.com/archive.
See more of our coverage in your search results.
Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.