Carbon Series: Assertive Architecture

Neustein is a multi-disciplinary artist who gained renown in the 1960s and '70s for large-scale installations and environments, on one hand, and diminutive works utilizing carbon copy paper, on the other. He began the ongoing Carbon Series in 1968, when his now obsolete materials were ubiquitous. Each carbon piece is comprised of a folded carbon copy paper set. Although he considers them drawings, there is no media added to the surfaces of these works. Rather, they are cut, torn, and/or scratched, revealing hidden layers, as well as the process of their own creation. He has said of these drawings, "I wanted an abstraction pregnant with experience." There is a biographical component to these works as well. Born in Poland during the Second World War, Neustein has discussed them in relation to his childhood memories of hiding in dark basements illuminated only by blocks of lights passing through narrow windows.