Wall Drawing #305 (1977)
The location of one hundred random specific points. Wall drawing, black pencil description, black crayon points. 950 x 350 cm. First drawn by Sol LeWitt, Jo Watanebe. First installation: Art & Architecture building, Yale University, New Haven.
Sol LeWitt’s wall drawings start off as instructions written in natural language that are then executed at the specific exhibition site. The fact that the execution of the instruction is left to someone other than the artist places emphasis on the concept and planning of the art work rather than its final form.
LeWitt’s wall drawings, over 1,200 of which have been executed, are one instance of his use of open, modular ‘structures’—a term that can be understood in both a conceptual and sculptural sense.
Wall Drawing #305 was first drawn by LeWitt himself and Jo Watanabe (then his walldrawing assistant, and a specialist in screenprinting, who has since become Lewitt’s principal printer), in the Art & Architecture building, Yale University, in 1977. The instructions are as follows: The location of one hundred random specific points. (The locations are determined by the drafters)
As long as they follow the instructions those executing such as work have free reign to draw what and how they choose (though they have to be trained by LeWitt himself). In this case they draw 100 points using black crayon - located according to a system they themselves determine - accompanied in each case by a description, also determined by the person drawing, in black pencil.
