The Painting, 2010; performative and photographic project with live presentation. First staged at Kunstraum Richard Sorge in Berlin in August 2010, as part of live art event Nude as the News with Low Profile and Oliver Walker, curated by Sunshine Wong.

As staged at Kunstraum Richard Sorge; photo: Sunshine Wong

The work is based on a simple premise: every Thursday evening for six months from January to July 2010 I visited the Alte Nationalgalerie in Berlin in order to look at one particular painting. Initially chosen through a genuine interest in the work, the painting becomes increasingly unable to support the demands placed on it by my unrelenting connoisseurship.

Each time I visit the painting I write down my thoughts and responses to it, and to the experience of looking at it. These thoughts range from conventional aesthetic and art-historical responses, to reflections on my own state of mind and level of interest in the painting and the act of visiting it.

The weekly pilgrimage is positioned within the context of an otherwise ordinary day to day life. Alongside the written record of my experiences of looking at the painting, I produced photographs of my everyday existence, attempting to see the real world with a similiar gaze to that of the painting. The relation between the act of looking at the painting and the act of looking at the world is the focus of the work.

The work is presented in the form of a photographic slide show with a live spoken narration. No imagery or references to the specific identity of the painting feature.

As staged at Kunstraum Richard Sorge; photo: Sunshine Wong