Dennis Oppenheim’s practice remained somewhat unpredictable over the course of his career, spanning performance, body art, Land art, large-scale sculpture, and site-specific sculpture—the latter of which are reflected prominently in Storm King’s collection. A conceptual shift in sculpture in the late 1960s, according to Oppenheim, ushered in the idea of “sculpture as place. . . . It was more a sense of activating real space outside the studio, real place, and this got art into the real world.” 

As evidenced in this work’s title, Architectural Cactus #6, Oppenheim had a deep interest in both architecture and the environment. He once noted that he liked cacti because they were simultaneously soft and hard, grew into unpredictable shapes, and were prickly by nature. Oppenheim created eighteen sculptures in his Architectural Cactus series. The first six were produced as a public installation sited between a police station and forensic laboratory in the desert landscape of Scottsdale, Arizona. The surfaces of each sculpture are unique, designed in various colors and materials. This patchwork quality was inspired by the investigative work taking place within the nearby buildings and demonstrates the artist’s frequently off-beat, humorous approach to his art.