Donald Judd’s '100 untitled works in mill aluminum' are spread out across two artillery sheds in a former military fort in Marfa, Texas. Satiny metal boxes sit on the floor in measured rows, capturing the natural light that spills in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. Each box has the exact same exterior dimensions, but the internal composition of each box varies widely. Some have open sides that create caves or tunnels. Others contain metal planes that divide the space with slanting diagonals.

It’s impossible to see all six sides of a box at once. Instead, you have to move yourself around each work to fully comprehend it. You can choose to study the boxes one at a time, each object specific and distinct, with precise details unique to itself. Or you might choose to step back and view a larger and larger subset of the boxes — even the whole room all at once — attending closely to how the works communicate with each other, how they reflect onto one another.

The lustrous aluminum surfaces seem to shimmer in the warm natural light of the Chihuahuan Desert. The gradually-changing angle of the sun creates infinite subtle variations of color and shadow on the box interiors, while the exteriors reflect off each other in endless combinations. At different times of the day, in different seasons, with different cloud cover, the work changes with every visit — the same but different, to steal a phrase from On Kawara.

– D. Edward Davis, December 2024