Entanglement #3
Dorothea Rockburne American
Not on view
The title of this works refers to a concept in physics according to which two particles, light years apart, can appear inextricably linked. Similarly, Rockburne depicts two disconnected lines that appear nonetheless to respond to one another, creating an image that appears at distinct moments as a single composite, or, alternately, as two separate fragments. The work seems to challenge the viewer to achieve the seemingly paradoxical feat of holding both configurations together in their mind at once. Entanglement #3 might also be understood in the framework of the artist’s early dance training and work with the celebrated Judson Church Theatre in the 1960s. In this context, the two lines resemble partners engrossed in a dance, while the title lends a note of pathos, or anxiety to the work that would otherwise be missing.