An ever-changing, screen-adaptive digital evolution of Jo Baer’s Single Paintings series of the 1960s.
I love minimalism. Usually.
Minimalist work often feels like the friendliest of challenges, and my appreciation for it depends on my state of mind. If I’m unable to feel anything from so little, is something wrong with me? I’ve discovered the answer in my case is yes – I’m not at my best. My mind must be calm and open if I’m to engage with this type of artwork deeply.
This reminds me of meditation. The more disciplined my practice, the more rewarding and pleasurable it becomes. I’m inconsistent nowadays, but when in a rhythm, I cannot get enough of sitting on the cushion. It’s truly invigorating. The feeling of dissolving into mere sensations with an awareness of consciousness extending beyond yourself is difficult to beat.
“I have always had the feeling that an object is larger than its outline. That it has a field or force beyond itself.” – Jo Baer
In June 2024 at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I was glued to an artwork from Jo Baer’s Single Paintings series and could not get enough. I stood unhurried, absorbed, and in silence. I viewed from different angles and distances, removing my glasses when my eyes were only a foot or so away. I remember whispering to myself something like, “Wow, I can’t believe how much I love this.” I took close-up photos to note the lavender color and approximate sizes and ratio of the borders. When I finally walked away, I couldn’t resist returning for one last look. I left believing I’d eventually do something creative related to and/or inspired by the piece.
Well, here we are!
The Single Paintings series by Jo Baer includes 12 artworks created in the 1960s. These works feature a signature black border with a thin strip of color around a white space. According to Pace Gallery, there are more than nine variants from the series in major museum collections across the United States, including:
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The Art Institute of Chicago
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh
Seattle Art Museum
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
The Baltimore Museum of Art
At the bottom of this website I’ve provided resources for learning more about Jo Baer.
Untitled (For Jo) is my homage to Jo Baer’s Single Paintings series, evolving it into a single artwork embracing the possibilities of dynamic blockchain-based art in a way, I think, Jo Baer would approve of. There is no physical counterpart to this work and anyone can view or download the HTML file. Jo, if you stumble upon this, I’d love to know what you think! Thank you for creating and sharing art throughout your life. Your work has impacted me to the point where I couldn’t help to create this piece, and I’m thankful for that.
As Jo’s earlier quote suggests, if you experience a work from the Single Paintings series you’ll likely get a sense of the artwork extending beyond its outline. Just as each piece has a field or force beyond itself, so do you.
Stephen Biernacki, 11/2024
Adaptability
This piece adjusts its composition to fit screens of all sizes. By adapting to the format in which it’s shown, the work is optimized for each viewer’s environment and versatile across settings. Quick ways to see the resizing in action are to change the orientation of your phone or resize your browser window on a desktop. This approach evolves Baer’s interest in spatial relationships on canvas into digital spaces, preserving her regard for perception while embracing the possibilities of dynamic blockchain-based art.
Transitions
A thin strip of color shifts over the course of 19 hours and 29 minutes, honoring Baer’s birth year of 1929. The duration balances imperceptible transitions with a cycle finishing within one day, allowing the artwork to evolve subtly while maintaining a sense of completion. Return to the work every so often to see a new color. Reflecting Baer’s intention on canvas, this continuous evolution invites a sustained, meditative experience—but one that’s also alive, meeting the viewer wherever the artwork is in its journey.
Palette
Influenced by Baer’s attunement to color and designed with digital displays in mind, the colors move through a meticulously chosen range of gentle, unobtrusive tones. By following a mathematically precise path around the color wheel, the palette maintains harmony and continuity, creating a serene experience unfolding over time.
Transient Labs
I couldn’t have realized my vision for this homage without the Dynamic Art Engine from Transient Labs. Founder Ben Strauss generously contributed his time and expertise, working to perfect the functionality—a challenge given the complexity of the math! In the end, we succeeded and I’m grateful. The artwork is minted on Ethereum using Transient Labs’ ERC721TL creator contract.
Jo Baer
This piece builds off of Baer’s original work, existing as an homage intended to honor her and evolve the Single Paintings series for digital environments by bridging her approach with technology. It invites viewers to see Baer’s influence in a new light, preserving her sense of restraint and keen interest in perception and vision. The work adapts these qualities to the fluid and evolving medium of dynamic art, where I hope her values will find fresh resonance.
Experience
By taking a moment to engage with the artwork’s unhurried pace, you become part of its living rhythm. My hope is you find an unexpected depth in this digital ode to Baer, just as I did with the physical work at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. This piece reminds us that, like Baer’s original Single Paintings series, each of us has a field or force extending beyond ourselves.
Collect the art.
Minted on Ethereum using Transient Labs’ ERC721TL creator contract, the piece is available for .1929Ξ.