Snelson received considerable attention in the 1960s, when minimalism was in vogue. His plain metal bars and geometric shapes seemed, at first glance, to be a part of that movement. Yet minimalist art is not characterized by the engineering complexity of Snelson's work, nor does it require his intuitive technical understanding. Other metal sculptors who rose to prominence in the '60s, like Donald Judd, exemplified true minimalism with solid, heavy-looking rectangles and squares, which were placed on floors or affixed to walls. Snelson, by contrast, balanced stiff rods in midair based on principles that were not yet understood by science.