Research

Until 1967, Jan Dibbets made paintings in the spirit of abstract-geometric and pop art. But in that year he decided to quit painting and began making three-dimensional works with sand, soil, branches and neon. He also began his research into perception and the visual means of art.

Trapezium

At that time, he also created his first ‘perspective corrections’, of which the Perspective correction – rectangle with 1 diagonal is a good example. For this work, Dibbets lays a white rope on a grassy field in the form of a trapezium with a diagonal and makes a black-and-white photograph of it. The observer sees and experiences the space of the field according to the laws of perspective, but sees the trapezium as a rectangle.

20th century commentary

Dibbets’ perspective corrections are a 20th century commentary on the central perspective applied in Western art since the renaissance. Dibbets examines and ‘corrects’ the perception of visible reality. His main medium is photography.