Condensation Cube, 1963-1965
- Medium
- Clear acrylic plastic and distilled water
- Dimensions
- 12 x 12 x 12 in. (30.5 x 30.5 x 30.5 cm) Other (ACC): 44 x 13 x 13 in. (111.76 x 33.02 x 33.02 cm)
- Accession Number
- 2008.69
- Credit
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
Purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition and Collection Committee
Because it is responsive to the most minute changes in its environment, Haacke’s Condensation Cube is a work in the present tense: a state of perpetual flex. In the early 1960s, Haacke turned his focus to systems and processes, working from the premise that all living elements exist within an open system in constant interaction with and adaptation to their environments. His addition of water to this and other related translucent structures created in this period was a departure from the then-prevalent minimalist cube. As temperature and light conditions fluctuate, condensation forms and trickles down the walls of the box. A change as subtle as the entrance of a gallery visitor affects, however imperceptibly, the action within the cube, demonstrating that in the simplest act of our being, we impact the world around us.