MASS MoCA

We All Use Math Everyday 

by Paige Beede

When attending class everyday at school one may not realize the connection between mathematics and art class. However, the relationship between the two is one of the most important to many professionals in both fields. As a conceptual artist, Sol LeWitt had to use mathematics to plan out his entire metal vision of the series of walls that were then painted in the Mass MoCA. Like an architect, LeWitt did not do the actual construction, in his case, paint the walls; rather he came up with all the needed measurements and mathematical parameters and instructions for the painters to reference.

It was incredible how proportioned and straight every line and every box was throughout the series of walls, given the artists were never given a picture of what they were supposed to create. All of the repeated colored shapes were precisely the exact same shade. Also, the painters were able to capture that preciseness again in the precision of the lines boarding the colors. Those lines were so straight and so clean that it created a certain contemporary vibe throughout the series that went along with the rest of the museum.

Two pieces in particular, Wall Drawing 413 and Wall Drawing 414, were nicely paired as they were positioned across from one another in the room. The walls acted as parallel lines mirroring one another. Both walls had a series of four squares. Each square was then broken into four more squares. The squares had a sequential rotation of four different shades of color. The right side was four different shades of grey. The left side was the three primary colors and one shade of gray. At first this opposing vision draws the eye to the color but then looking through the right eye the overwhelming shades of gray trigger a feeling of separation from all other colors in the world, given that the primary colors are not so bright that they overcompensate for the lack of color in the grays. The fact that the walls are ceiling height also contributes to the separation from color. This mind game is what is so interesting about LeWitt’s work. The mathematics and the paint come together to create such a simple, but mesmerizing piece of art.