This piece requires the participation of the public in order to exist. It’s a non-static sculpture, it’s always changing, it can disappear, yet at the same time, it’s indestructible because it can always be reprinted. It’s an attempt at creating a more democratic artwork. A public piece.–Felix Gonzalez-Torres, 1993
Among the most influential artists of his generation, Felix Gonzalez-Torres combined the impulses of Conceptual art, political activism, and chance to produce a number of “democratic artworks,” including public billboards, piles of candies, and stacks of paper. In these “stacked pieces,” people other than the artist act as major contributors to the work, taking away sheets, consuming sweets, replenishing stacks–in effect, providing the inanimate objects an active life. Using the print medium for Untitled, Gonzalez-Torres rejects the rarity and preciousness of the limited-edition print for the generosity of low-cost, offset printed art. He specified that the stack of sheets always remain at a height of seven inches.