e encyclopedia of sculptural possibilities appears concerned with defying all formal continuity, but as you move around Two in One, which islaid out to offer a virtually inexhaustible number of viewpoints, the relationships between the various components begin to seem not so purely random. Anangular, constructivist form and a biomorphic shape turn out to share similar internal volumes; the sides of a low, sawtooth form rhyme visually with anhourglass shape that rises next to it; lateral slots recur in several components; the asymmetrical nature of the two branches is balanced by the consistentbilateral symmetry of each individual piece. At the same time that he invites the viewer to enjoy this inventive, almost carnivalesque parade of shapes,Sugarman also offers multiple occasions for us to partake of his unusual artistic logic, to uncover how one form covertly translates into the next. The year after Two in One, in an Art in America symposium on the 1960s, Sugarman described his heterogeneous chains as the result of a connectiveprocess in which "the first form fathers the second, the second the third, etc."(1) This generative quality was picked up on by the late Amy Goldin, one ofSugarman's most perceptive critics. In 1969, Goldin advised Sugarman's audience not to be "misled by the gaiety of his color or the heartiness of his form."Instead of being charmed by such aspects, it was necessary to "ask where the piece of sculpture begins and ends. Insist on knowing why this is green whilethat is yellow. Why the segments are set this distance apart, neither abutted nor spaced more widely."(2) Confronted with complex works such as Two inOne or Inscape (1964), another important multipart, multicolored floor piece, viewers may find Goldin's advice daunting to follow, but it remains some ofthe best advice for appreciating the formal intricacies of Sugarman's work. Another helpful hint may lie in the title of an early Sugarman sculpture--One for...
