Cube

The American poet, William Carlos Williams, insisted that there were “no ideas but in things”. We live our lives in the midst of hundreds of things every minute of the day, barely conscious of their being in our world, and, at the same time, utterly dependent on their existence.

But then, there are things that take on enormous meaning; that, in their very mysterious countenances, lodge in our memory. Mark Baumgartner’s Cube desk, enfolding within itself secret drawers, files, cubbyholes, trays, ingeniously encompassed in a perfect cube, and unfolding in different sequences is just such a memorable object. The ideas lodge there firmly, secreted in a cube that takes on the lineaments of a sculpture. This object, in its perfection, has both the rare esthetic value of a work of art, and the absolute utilitarian value of a working desk.

Dore Ashton

Art Historian and Cultural Critic, New York City