“Zero & Not,” created by Joseph Kosuth between 1985 and 1986, is an installation artwork that falls within the Conceptual Art movement. The artwork consists of several panels arranged in a grid, each displaying a sequence of letters, words, or lines, some of which are partially obscured or crossed out with black horizontal lines. The composition employs a juxtaposition of visible and concealed text to investigate the boundaries of language and meaning, playing with the viewer’s perception and understanding. As a representative of Conceptual Art, Kosuth’s work emphasizes ideas and concepts over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. The deliberate interaction between text and obliteration invites contemplation on themes of absence and presence, visibility and invisibility, and the nature of communication itself.
