This is the extent of the established knowledge on the Study Collection, posing several obstacles to scholars looking for definitive answers. With this paper I do not intend to come to such a conclusion, a pursuit that I believe to be a trap not uncommon to the study of Rauschenberg’s work. Instead, the purpose of this research is to assess what can be learned from the Study Collection with these challenges in mind, through an overlapping framework of formal, technical, and historical analysis.

     This inquiry will focus on one work from the Study Collection: SC192. At first glance, the work is rather unassuming, projecting the appearance of a creased piece of paper. For many, a crumpled up piece of paper is evidence of a failed idea, or detritus of the creative process, and on a meta-level, the Study Collection is an equivalent form of discarded or forgotten material, given that very little is known about the collection’s origins. The clarity and definition in visual forms of SC192 provide a good entry point into the Study Collection as a whole, particularly given the indeterminate nature of this body of work. In singling out this print in particular, my intent is to excavate the remains of Rauschenberg’s creative process on a micro-scale, in addition to exploring his interest in the material possibilities of blank space at its most profound simplicity.  

 

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