Stiff Box 12 / Lucas Samaras
About this Item
Record Details
- Accession Number
- 1997/1.138
- Title
- Stiff Box 12
- Artist
- Lucas Samaras
- Artist Nationality
- American
- Artist Life Dates
- American, born Greece, 1936
- Medium and Support
- Cor-Ten steel
- Object Creation Date
- 1971
- Object Creation Place
- North and Central America (continent)
- United States (nation)
- Creation Place 1
- North and Central America (continent)
- Creation Place 2
- United States (nation)
- Style/Group/Movement
- abstract
- Dimensions
- 190.5 cm x 142.24 cm x 38.1 cm (75 in. x 56 in. x 15 in.)
- Century
- 20th century
- Primary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Primary Object Type
- abstract sculpture
- Secondary Object Classification
- Sculpture
- Secondary Object Type
- direct metal sculpture
- Physical Description
- Made of thick steel, this sculpture has two very distinct halves. One on side, the thick sheet of steel gracefully curves around and back on itself, making loops and rounded edges. On the reverse, the steel is angular, jagged, and sharp, jutting into the spaces in the sculpture's interior and the space around the whole. At the very center of the piece, along the implied dividing line between the two sides, is a relatively small box.
- Subject Matter
- The subjects of Lucas Samara's steel sculpture are in part formal: the encounter between the two different halves, the curved and the jagged; the different relationships between the material and these distinct forms. The box at the center of the divided forms and in the title, "Stiff Box 12," suggests other thematic content: a kind of Pandora's box idea of chaos and strife springing from the opened container; a contest over possession of an object.
- Primary Keywords
- abstraction
- angular
- boxes (containers)
- curved
- direct metal sculpture
- geometric abstraction
- steelwork
- whiplash curves
- Secondary Keywords
- visual arts
- artistic concepts
- associated concepts
- attributes and properties
- attributes and properties by specific type
- concepts in the arts
- constructions (sculpture)
- containers
- containers by form
- descriptors
- design elements
- form attributes
- forms of expression
- genres
- metalwork
- modern and contemporary art
- motifs
- object genres
- object genres by material
- objects we use
- people and culture
- sculpture
- sculpture by technique
- shape
- visual works
- visual works by medium or technique
- Rights
- If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.
Technical Details
- Collection
- University of Michigan Museum of Art
- Image Size
- 2401 x 3600
- File Size
- 239 KB
- Record
- 1997/1.138
- Link to this Item
-
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1997-sl-1.138/1997_1.138b.jpg
Rights and Permissions
Related Links
Portfolios
- In public portfolios
Cite this Item
View the Help Guide for more information.
- Full citation
-
"Stiff Box 12; Lucas Samaras." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1997-sl-1.138/1997_1.138b.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 25, 2024.
