Angela Bulloch Abacus Tablet: Parliament, 2023
8 x 41,5 x 41,5 cm (light box)
4 x 4 x 4 cm each (25 glass cubes)
Abacus Tablet: Parliament consists of 25 brightly colored glass elements set in a gridded constellation on a horizontal white shelf illuminated from within. The rectangular glass elements have three colors: 23 of one, and two each of another color. The order of the glass elements may be changed. The work is electrified and for indoor use.
The work is from a new series of wall-mounted multi-part glass sculptures that draw on the motif of an abacus, the ancient analog computing device. The work combines major motifs in Angela Bulloch’s oeuvre, manifesting her interest in systems, patterns, and rules, as well as her preoccupation with the history of shapes and human interactions with art. By encouraging viewers to interact with the arrangement of elements, the artist integrates an interactive quality, an important characteristic of many of Bulloch’s works.
At the same time, the stacked shelf-like forms also recall sculptures by Donald Judd, continuing Bulloch’s subtle reformulation of Minimalist aesthetics in a contemporary yet historically informed context.