Albers did not recognize a role for self-expression in art. His technique was based on a detached and scientific examination of visual phenomena that could be equally shared and understood by different people. Self-expression involves the imposition of idiosyncratic views and beliefs on others by the artist, while objectivity holds the possibility of communion and true communication by presenting a work that is devoid of personal content and thus equally accessible to all people.
Although Albers was not part of the movement known as Abstract Expressionism, he was influenced by it and influenced it with his own work. Abstract painting attempted to transcend the limits of the daily world by concerning itself with timeless ideals that are based on pure geometry and color theory. By removing specificity, Albers and other abstract artists sought out a Platonic perfection that Albers believed to be "probably more real than nature."
Much of Albers' work, particularly in his series "Homage to the Square," was dedicated to the exploration of the effect of colors on each other. By working with squares, he could focus more closely on color theory because there was no subject matter to distract the viewer's eye from the primacy of color within the composition. Albers explored the impact of color in hundreds of square paintings, examining the way that complementary colors impact each other, the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary colors, and the ability of certain tones to change the impact of juxtaposed colors.
Closely associated with his color theories, Albers' use of hard edges was endemic to his art. By working with unmixed colors and refraining from shading and subtleties, Albers increased the visual impact of his color juxtapositions. Most of his work involves flat fields of color that are sharply delineated from adjoining fields by straight lines. The use of gradations or hues would tend to connect the work to a real world of changing images, while hard edges and flat color fields maintained the work firmly within the realm of abstraction.