The Finish Fetish Artists

An Essay

For others, perhaps especially those artists who worked with light and transparency and were involved in the birth of the Light and Space Movement, an immaculate surface is a prerequisite. Helen Pashgian explained this very clearly:

“On any of these works, if there is a scratch... that’s all you see. The point of it is not the finish at all – the point is being able to interact with the piece, whether it is inside or outside, to see into it, to see through it, to relate to it in those ways. But that’s why we need to deal with the finish, so we can deal with the piece on a much deeper level”.

The importance of a pristine surface calls for a very low tolerance to damage by the artists. The feeling is shared by Larry Bell:

“I don’t want you to see stains on the glass. I don’t want you to see fingerprints on the glass... I don’t want you to see anything except the light that’s reflected, absorbed, or transmitted”

  1. ​Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees​
  2. ​The light that hits the glass​
  3. ​Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface​