LeWitt took the planning process very seriously. He argued that ideas for works of art actually ARE art.
Five people drew it on the wall according to the artist’s designs from 1982. They worked outside the Modern and Contemporary galleries for four weeks.
The installers followed LeWitt’s instructions very closely. First, they divided the white wall into 10 rectangular panels. Using pencils, rulers, and a lot of tape to mark the wall with measurements, they worked in sections.
Sol LeWitt at The Met—Wall Drawing #370 Installation: Days 11–14. Produced and directed by Kate Farrell. Time-lapse photography by Thomas Ling
After marking each panel, the installers made lines with blue painter’s tape. Then they painted white primer over the whole section, including the masking tape. Over all that, they applied MANY layers of black by hand, using rags dipped in India ink. They didn’t paint the black on with brushes! After the ink dried, the installers removed the tape to uncover white lines between the black lines they had drawn.
LeWitt planning his art down to the last detail. For Wall Drawing #370, he designed 10 simple geometric shapes at the center of each panel, a triangle, rectangle, trapezoid and more. Wall Drawing #370 is made with parallel lines that move in the same direction and are each three inches apart from each other. Some parallel lines are vertical (moving up and down) and others are horizontal (moving side to side). LeWitt did not want all of his art to last forever. Most of his wall art installed by other people are supposed to be destroyed. Wall Drawing #370 at The Met will one day be painted over! Wall Drawing #370 is longer than the length of two school buses.
(Source: a few photos and videos courtesy of Met Museum Press Dept. Photos of the artwork were taken by ARTS & FOOD staff, with permission.)
