Peter Plagens Reviews Lucy Lippard's '557,087' at Seattle Art Museum

In a 1969 Artforum essay republished by Afterall, critic Peter Plagens reviews Lucy Lippard's exhibition '557,087' at the Seattle Art Museum, one of the first major institutional shows of concept art. The title references Seattle's 1960 population and changes when the show travels to Vancouver. Plagens describes the exhibition as a mix of late Minimalism and works where art is replaced by literature. He praises pieces by Robert Morris (a shotgun-blasted wall), Joseph Kosuth (Art as Idea as Idea), Robert Huot (a room painted blue), William Bollinger (a log in Seattle Bay), and Dennis Oppenheim (Infected Zone). He criticizes weaker works by Bruce McLean, Richard Artschwager, Rick Barthelme, On Kawara, and Adrian Piper. Plagens argues that Lippard herself becomes the artist, curating other artists as medium, and notes the show's anti-technology stance and literary bent. He concludes that despite uneven quality, the exhibition marks a significant shift in art phenomenology.