Sun, moon, water, sky, earth, star; these are the words that shape the circular component of Nancy Holt’s concrete poem. The poem alludes to the cosmos as it is contained by the various frames and reflections of the earth below, from the human eye, to a pool of water, to the lens of a camera.

Along each segment of a square made up of dashed lines, lies the command: “DETACH HERE.” The implied perforation beckons the viewer to tear along the sides and remove the square from the rest of the paper. This call to action renders the work somehow unfinished in its present state, yet a “completed” version—with the square detached—removes with it the essence of the work. One of Holt’s earliest works, Detach Here is a keen example of the artist’s continual desire to rouse the spectator, inviting conscious participation in the act of spectatorship.