1981.36
Fix
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.