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Preview image of work. pen and black ink, brushed gunpowder on off-white wove paper,  Fix 9217

1981.36

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Fix

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Artist

Edward Joseph Ruscha, IV (Ed Ruscha) (Omaha, Nebraska, Dec. 16, 1937 – )

Title

Fix

Creation Date

1972

Century

20th century

Dimensions

11 1/2 in. x 29 in. (29.2 cm. x 73.7 cm.)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

North America, United States

Medium and Support

pen and black ink, brushed gunpowder on off-white wove paper

Credit Line

Museum Purchase, with the aid of funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C., a federal agency

Copyright

This artwork may be under copyright. For further information, please consult the Museum’s Copyright Terms and Conditions.

Accession Number

1981.36

Ed Ruscha is known for using unconventional materials such as Pepto-Bismol, blood, and, in the case of “Fix,” gunpowder. To Ruscha, gunpowder has a unique tint and is easier to manipulate than powders like graphite or charcoal. To obtain the desired effects, he soaked the gunpowder in water, which removes the potassium nitrate (the oxidizing component), leaving sulfur and charcoal, which he then applied to the paper using Q-tips and cotton balls. Over the course of three years (1970--73), Ruscha used gunpowder to make works that represent commonplace words--such as “fix”--in tapelike lettering seemingly hovering above a neutral surface. The meaning of this perfectly executed trompe l’oeil remains suspended. What, if anything, should be fixed, and by whom? Is the tape or ribbon part of the problem, or the solution? Should the interpretation of the drawing rest on the word, or does the writing lose its meaning when it becomes form.