Straight, Not-Straight and Broken Lines in All Horizontal Combinations (Three Kinds of Lines & All Their Combinations)

Sol LeWitt hand-worked the large-scale copper plates for his 1973 seven-part etching project, “Straight, Not-Straight and Broken Lines in All Horizontal Combinations (Three Kinds of Lines & All Their Combinations).” On one plate, he drew straight horizontal lines, on the second, not-straight lines, and on the third, dashes (broken lines). The density/frequency of lines is consistent across all three elements. While the last four pieces in the work have all the combinations of these three types of lines (single types, combos of two types, and one with all three types), LeWitt kept the density consistent and so no sheet or line-type calls out for more attention than another. When hung sequentially, the seven elements are discrete, interchangeable, personal, and universal. LeWitt’s line quality is anonymous to many and yet entirely particular to others. All these combinations, juxtapositions, contradictions, surprises, variations, etc., point towards a central tenet of LeWitt’s work: informed equality.