Condensation Cube (1963)
Plexiglas, water. 76 x 76 x 76 cm. Edition of 5. Courtesy: Collecció MACBA, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Gift of the National Committee and Board of Trustees Whitney Museum of American Art).
Condensation Cube is a Plexiglas box that contains a small amount of water.
The sculpture responds to the gallery conditions (the water evaporates and forms condensation on the walls of the cube, depending on the temperature within the room), making transparent the relationship between the object and its environment.
Condensation Cube references minimalist structures of the time and reflects Haacke’s involvement in the Zero Group which was interested in light and motion. It also illustrates an interest in systems which Haacke explored with his friend Jack Burnham, the theorist and author of Systems Esthetics (1968).
