In a 2000 “Statement About Small Sculptures” that would apply to this work, the artist wrote: “For me, small sculptures have an area of less than 500 square inches. I have been making them regularly for more than 40 years but displaying them publicly has always presented difficulties. Most of my sculptures are ordered arrays of more or less uniform elements. The elements of small sculptures are almost always quite small and their small inertial masses make them very vulnerable to disorderly scatter. Social entropy is another force disturbing the coherence of my small sculptures. The normal flow of foot traffic in a busy museum or gallery is a sufficient cause of disorder in my small pieces. Pedestals, barriers, bases and the like are utterly inappropriate for the display of my work. Private installations present no great threats to my small sculptures,” however.
