Sterling Ruby in Beyond the Pedestal: Sculpture in the Collection, from the 1960s to Today

Over the course of these two decades, artists came up with new kinds of three-dimensional art that went much further than earlier experimentations with form. For example, in Minimalism and Land art, the physical presence of artworks—their dimensions, structure, mass, as well as how they inhabited a space and engaged with viewers—took precedence over other artistic considerations.

In Conceptual art, it was the ideas generating the work’s creation that determined its content, and not the final product itself; appearance and tangible matter became secondary. These shifts gave rise to artworks that disrupted established boundaries, defied standard terminology and compelled a re-evaluation of what characteristics constitute a sculpture.

By displaying works on the floor, wall or in the air—in other words, beyond the pedestal—the exhibition redefines sculpture in relation to the body in space, inviting us to see, sense and engage with the art that surrounds us.

When sculptures were removed from pedestals and placed directly on the floor, when they became installations, hung on walls or suspended from ceilings, when they consisted of mounds of earth, when they were integrated into natural environments outside of the museum altogether, they became a completely different kind of creation.

The liberation of sculpture from constraints imposed by pedestals affected form, scale, mass, material and location, freeing artists from structural limitations. Three-dimensional artworks could be monumental, weighty and immersive. They could be made anywhere, from anything and by any means (barring logistical barriers). Some were situated or produced in non-traditional and often remote locations, including in the middle of deserts, becoming site-specific, immobile, integrated into the land and stretching for kilometres. Others even existed as empty space, or were ephemeral, left to dematerialize back into the landscape.