In image and word
In this work, the concept ‘glass’ is presented in both image and word. From left to right we see a photograph of a square pane of glass leaning against the wall, next to it the glass pane itself and finally a photograph of the description of the word ‘glass’ from an English-Dutch dictionary.
Raise questions
With this totality Joseph Kosuth aims to raise questions. How does the photographic image relate to the actual pane of glass? And how does a description in words relate to the real object? Thus the artist invites the observer to consider the relation between the idea of reality, reality itself and the depiction of reality.
Reflection
On the point of departure for this type of work, which he calls Object definitions, he says: ‘The expression lay in the idea and not in the form. The forms were merely an instrument in the service of the idea’. The works of Kosuth always involve a reflection on the essence of art in relation to reality.