Wexner: Cubi I 


Celeste D'Netto and Greg Mayer


In David Smith’s Cubi I, there were many interesting aspects to his work. As Celeste and I walked into the room, we were introduced to a piece of art right smack in the middle of the room. All the lights on the ceiling were pointed right to it. The very first thing we noticed was the color and strokes on each cube of this piece of art. There were bright, yet odd and very unique swirls on each cube. There were also little nicks and indents around each cube that we weren’t sure if they were suppose to be there, or just kept there over time. Next, the first puzzling idea we came across was located at the very bottom of the sculptor. Out of all the rectangular and cube-like objects in this piece of art, everything was held up by one thing: a little circle. The artist used the circle to rest these objects on it. The next thing that we noticed was the placement and organization of where each cube like object was placed in this work of art. There were 5 rectangular like objects and it seemed like the second from the top and fifth from the top were placed on the same spot of the cube either above it or below it, and the third from the top and second from the top were also placed at the same spot. It almost looked symmetrical except for the very top parallelogram which i believe was the only non-cube in the whole piece of art.

The overall work is highlighted by the lighting in the room that all showcases the piece and therefore shows that this piece highlights central aspects of life.  Since the piece is in an open space it catches the audiences  attention since it is so large and polished.  I first noticed the circle at the base of the sculpture that appears to hold the entire figure on a delicate balance.  Since the circle offsets the cubes that depict an order that appears static, the circle sets up a general life story that proves when there’s balance and order, at the base is something offsetting and always has that balance on it’s toes and very much subject to change. The meanings that can be derived from this piece can apply to individual people’s personal lives and society as a whole as well.  The first large solid square is like the foundation in which everyone has in their personal lives, people learn as kids certain beliefs that are always at the base of their life’s events.  Furthermore, this large square is like the foundation of society’s standards often derived mostly from a sense of propriety.  From this base square, people build their lives on the foundations in which they started living and perceiving the world.