Ten Good Years

In 1954, Robert Rauschenberg began to make his "combines," which he continued to make until 1964. Influenced heavily by Joseph Cornell, Rauschenberg's combines consisted of wood panels, collaged photographical images, fabric, found objects, and pieces of furniture unified by a gestural "action painting" brushwork. Operating "in the space between art and life" as he called it, Rauschenberg's combines move from the wall and interact with the environment. In 1953 Rauschenberg constructed a set design for the dancer/choreographer Merce Cunningham's Minutiae. From 1954 to 1964 Rauschenberg participated in twenty performances, including lighting, set, and costume design. In addition, both he and Cage were members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Rauschenberg's interest in the physical environment was with him from his early work, as even his dense painted white canvases invited "audience engagement."
Between 1962-64, he incorporated images from discarded photoengraved plates he salvaged from The New York Times and New York Herald Tribune. Rauschenberg also began using his own photographs as well in an attempt to circumvent any copyright problems that his compositions might cause.