Unlike a game of rock-paper-scissors, it is uncertain in this sculpture if the paper is “beating” the rock. The size and weight of the stone are emphasized by its juxtaposition with the delicate paper. Supported by the floor, the sculp­ture becomes dependent on the space. It is clear to the viewer that in no other way could the sculpture’s integrity be maintained, because it is the floor that prevents the paper from tearing. Where in the popular hand game paper covering rock would end the match, in Koshimizu’s sculpture the materials’ powers are renegotiated and there is no obvious resolution. Susumu Koshimizu was a member of the Mono-ha group, which brought attention to sculpture’s materiality by the integration of sculptural works into the viewing space.

Excerpt from

Anna Katherine Brodbeck, ed., TWO X TWO X TWENTY: Two Decades Supporting Contemporary Art at the Dallas Museum of Art (Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art), 2018.