The installation/performance ‘Untitled ( )’ was made and exhibited during the artist in residency program at the Pompgemaal in Den Helder in 2009.
At the center of this installation/performance stands a panoramic ‘drawing’ (9,1×2,2 meter) composed of a seemingly countless number of vertical pencil lines, unevenly distributed over the surface of the sheet. The creation of the work itself was accessible to an audience, making the artwork a continuing performance. Visitors were asked to take photographs of the artist while working, thereby documenting the process and creating a testimony to their presence. In addition to the completed drawing, two display cases were exhibited at the studio space in Den Helder, which were brightly illuminated from the inside by fluorescent tubes. The two display cases contained text, with each case showing a sentence written on a piece of paper: “I placed it two days ago” and “three minutes ago”.
After the artist in residence program in Den Helder, the installation was shown at the SMART Project Space in Amsterdam. The reinstallation of the work contained several additions and changes, which made this exhibition a second ‘interpretation’ of the work rather than a simple repetition of the installation in Den Helder. The text ‘Every time you pass by’, for instance, was added on a wall with graphite.
Besides the reinstallation and transformation of the project at the exhibition in the SMART Project Space, the installation/performance also resulted in a book, which was released in August 2009. The publication includes a selection of the photographs taken by Paulien Barbas and the audience. Additionally, it includes two essays by Jennifer Steetskamp and Steven ten Thije. The book, which was designed by Our Polite Society, can be seen as one more transformation of the “original” installation; an attempt to create another form out of the project with new distinct performative and visual characteristics.
Also part of the series: