"Actual space is intrinsically more powerful and specific than paint on a flat surface."
“Specific Objects,” first published in Arts Yearbook 8 (1965), is one of the most cited essays by Judd. Here he describes a “new“ class of artwork, one that is neither painting, nor sculpture. Judd defines these new work as “three-dimensional,“ engaging real space as opposed to the “illusionism and literal space” of more traditional art forms. Unlike painting and sculpture, which are familiar and can be easily recognized, "the new three-dimensional work doesn't constitute a movement, school or style. The common aspects are too general and too little common to define a movement. The differences are greater than the similarities."
In the three-dimensional work the whole thing is made according to complex purposes, and these are not scattered but asserted by one form. It isn't necessary for a work to have a lot of things to look at, to compare, to analyze one by one, to contemplate. The thing as a whole, its quality as a whole, is what is interesting. The main things are alone and are more intense, clear and powerful. They are not diluted by an inherited format, variations of a form, mild contrasts and connecting parts and areas.
Rather than a minimalist's manifesto, as it is often credited to be, "Specific Objects" champions a diverse group of artists emerging in the early 1960s who Judd found commonality with in terms of use of scale, composition and structures while also calling out artists who he saw as failing to meet his mark of objecthood.
Artists in the exhibition include Arman, Richard Artschwager, Larry Bell, George Brecht, Bruce Conner, Tony Delap, Yves Klein, Yayoi Kusama,Roy Lichtenstein, Sven Lukin, Claes Oldenburg, Lucas Samaras, Frank Stella, Robert Watts, and H.C. Westermann.