Wrapping            Cover-up        Concept Art        Nothing to See       Radical Art              


Secrets as Artworks

Marcel Duchamp
Man Ray



À Bruit Secret, 1916



L'Énigme d'Isidore Ducasse, 1920



Ben Vautier: Boîtes Mystères
Walter de Maria


boîte mystère (1960)

à l'instant où elle sera ouverte elle perd toute valeur esthétique



                


CREATION NOV. 1960 – BOÎTE MYSTÈRE No 61. – NE PAS OUVRIR

Cette boîte perd toute sa valeur et signification esthétique en tant qu'oeuvre d'art (mystère) à l'instant où elle est ouverte.
FERMÉE LE 21/12/65 PAR BEN – TOUT No 13. FLUXUS

I have built a box eight feet high. On top place a small gold ball. Of course no one will be able to see the ball sitting way up there on the box. I will just know it is there.


Column with a Ball on Top, 1961







                



Christo Javacheff: Empaquetages



Wrapped Painting, 1968


  More wrappings by Christo

  Cover-ups by Christo

Package, 1961

Package, 1963



Package, 1961



Piero Manzoni: Pacchi (1961-1962)


Maurice Lemaître





Sculpture Inimaginable, 1964

Art & Language
 


Secret Painting, 1967

["The content of this painting is invisible; the character and dimension of the content are to be kept permanently secret, known only to the artist."]




Sol LeWitt

         


The Buried Cube, 1968
[Sealed metal cube with unknown contents is buried in the garden of Martin & Mia Visser, Bergeyk, The Netherlands.]



Stephen Kaltenbach



Time Capsule, 1970
Ray Johnson


Untitled, 1970. [Sealed Box]


References

Walter de Maria: Compositions, Essays, Meaningless Work, Natural Disasters. In: La Monte Young & Jackson Mac Low (eds.): An Anthology. New York, 1963.