Generative Art Timeline · Chapter 5: Artist-Programmer Era (1970s)
1974
Incomplete Open Cubes by Sol LeWitt

In this seminal work, LeWitt demonstrates his mastery of seriality, exploring the 122 ways of making an incomplete cube. The work is meant to challenge the boundary between art and the outside world by framing elements from the surrounding space. LeWitt’s exploration of the cube garnered wide acclaim from the mainstream art world in contrast to the Manfred Mohr’s largely ignored exploration of the cube beginning a year earlier.
Text by Peter Bauman. Generative Art Timeline, Le Random, fact-checked September 2026.
Sources
People
Movements
Material Generative Art, minimalism
Filed under
- Ideas
- conceptual art, cube, geometry, institutional recognition, Material Generative Art, minimalism, sculpture, seriality
- People
- Manfred Mohr, Sol LeWitt
- Works
- Incomplete Open Cubes
Related moments
Echoes across time
- 2005 · Part Object Part Sculpture, Columbus, Ohio
- 2024 · Vera Molnár Survey at Pompidou
- 1959 · Minimalism Emerges with 16 Americans at MoMA
Le Random editorials
- Infinite Images, Finite Control, Kevin Buist, July 28, 2025
- Julia Kaganskiy on Generativity’s Deeper Consideration, Peter Bauman, June 23, 2025
- Dmitri Cherniak on Strictly for Art, Peter Bauman, May 26, 2025
- Barbara London on New Territory, Peter Bauman, February 11, 2025
Le Random podcast
- Timeline Ch 4—Digital Era Pt II (1960s) with Michael Spalter — listen with transcript on Le Random (21 Sep 2023, 77 min). Transcript mentions Sol LeWitt. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 9—AI Era (2010s) with Tyler Hobbs, Helena Sarin, Rhea Myers & Gene Kogan — listen with transcript on Le Random (30 Jul 2024, 51 min). Transcript mentions Sol LeWitt. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Digital Curators Series 02—Regina Harsanyi & Jon Ippolito on Preserving the Digital — listen with transcript on Le Random (04 Nov 2024, 79 min). Transcript mentions Sol LeWitt. Apple Podcasts · Spotify
- Timeline Ch 5—Artist-Programmer Era (1970s) with Joan Truckenbrod, Hans Dehlinger & Anika Meier — listen with transcript on Le Random (14 Jan 2024, 65 min). Chapter 5’s episode. Apple Podcasts · Spotify