My works are in a constant state of change. I’m not interested in reaching an ideal state with my works. As people walk on them, as the steel rusts, as the brick crumbles, as the materials weather, the work becomes its own record of everything that’s happened to it.–Carl Andre, 1968
Carl Andre’s floor pieces feature symmetrical, or near symmetrical, arrangements of raw industrial materials: bricks and slate or metal tiles. His placement of the tiles on the floor emphasizes the geography of a room. As in the work of other sculptors who are described as Minimalist, such as Donald Judd, Andre uses symmetry, repetition, and simple geometric elements. The placement of the sculpture remains paramount, yet even this is de-emphasized to the point where the work becomes as conventional as a tile floor.
This particular piece is unusual in that it is not completely symmetrical. One of the large metal tiles is cut at an angle, which sits up against the architecture of the gallery so that the line of tiles is at an angle to the wall. This method of composition relates the work to painting: the architecture of the room functions in much the same way as does the edge of a canvas.