Josef Albers typically worked in series, exploring how subtle variations of color, composition, and scale affect the ways people experience his artworks. In the "Embossed Linear Constructions (ELC)" series, which includes this work, his artistic intervention is so subtle that the distinction between art and the real world, or illusion and reality, is almost imperceptible. The process of embossing involves pressing moistened paper between metal plates and reshaping the fibers to create a raised design. The faint design in this print comes in and out of focus as you move your body and shift your perspective. In these dynamic interactions with the work, it becomes clear that Albers intended to make viewers aware of the embodied experience of seeing—an awareness that can inform future experiences with art. 

Label from The Swindle: Art Between Seeing and Believing, May 26–October 28, 2018